Skyward
by Leon Rothschild III
Summary: Ch. 18 - Minato decides that what he did wasn't as rational as it is the moment it happened.
1. Finding Direction

A/N: what happens to me, I try to share through writing.

I do not own Naruto.

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Kakashi looked away from the scene in front of him.

Obito was holding hands with Rin and they seemed to be very happy. Rin was laughing and Obito smiled his toothy smile.

He looked away, not because of his usual dislike for anything Obito (but deep inside, he cared for his teammate.) but because he was…well, he was jealous.

No, not jealous because Rin now returns Obito's affection (or the other way round, no!), but because he wanted someone to hold on to, too.

He is human too, after all. Yes, he chose to show little emotion through the visible part of his face but behind the mask lies a kid longing for everything Hatake Kakashi never had.

He had always been waiting for someone to find him. Find him, care for him. Make him disregard inhibitions. Someone to make him as chipper as Obito, blush like Iruka and soothe his pain just like Rin and her medical jutsu.

To find someone who won't mind if he fails. Someone who wouldn't mind if he admits he gets weak and tries to ask for help. Kakashi was lost amidst this crazy world.

He needs someone who will see him as the greatest thing in this world. He needs someone who will defy anything to be with him because he's willing to do so too. He wants someone who will stay through the test of time and will prove that true love never dies. He needs someone who will be his refuge when times get rough. Someone who will accept who he is, who he's not and who he wants to be. He needs just someone who'd understand.. But when will they come for him?

Loneliness is seeking someone's hand to hold on to yet no one holds yours, so you grasp your own.

All these years Kakashi held on to his own hand, wishing, wanting, longing and waiting.

Kakashi sighed silently. Of course, he had somebody else in mind all along while wishing for that "someone" to come.

He smiled ever-so-slightly but cut the rare moment short. He knew that they couldn't be together, but he is determined to try anything. He writes his own story, so maybe he'll try and work to his own happy ending. Still he hopes.

Hope is comforting, Kakashi thought. _Hope is all I got…_

The slight surge of pain didn't pass through unnoticed. His eyes stung and watered. He quickly covered his eyes with the palms of his hands and wiped the stubborn tears which insisted on falling.

"Stop, idiot. Why are you crying?" he mumbled to himself.

But more tears came.

"Shit.", he said in a barely audible whisper.

He looked up into the sky and saw the most beautiful hue of blue he always longed for. He thought maybe looking up would push his tears back.

He rubbed his eyes with the back of his hands, pretending that something got in his eyes. He turned around so Obito and Rin won't see. He walked blindly on the training field, the easy morning wind and warmth caressing his pale skin and messing his silver hair more.

Grass scrunched beneath his feet as he walked as normal as possible so his other teammates would not notice. Kakashi lowered his hands, got momentarily blinded by the sunlight and bumped into something.

No, someone.

It was the Yellow Flash of Konoha. Namikaze Minato. His sensei.

Time seemed to stand still for Kakashi as he gazed upon the bright face of his Minato. Kakashi was surprised but didn't let it show. He tried to look as if his sensei's sudden appearance didn't startle him.

Minato looked down at him with those eyes… _The most beautiful hue of blue that colored Kakashi's skies._

"You alright, Kakashi?" said Minato. He looked over at Obito and Rin sitting on the grass, almost cuddling.

Then he smiled. _A smile which outshines even the sun._

Kakashi looked at his sensei. As usual, he was perfect. Always happy. Blue eyes and golden hair set on a perfect face, under the equally blue sky and golden sun. Kakashi looked at the ground near his sensei's feet and let a smile form on his lips.

He hesitated noticeably, looked up and answered with newfound determination.

"Yeah" said Kakashi.

Minato grinned once more and patted Kakashi on the back.

"Good" he said.

Minato walked towards Rin and Obito, calling for them to stand up to begin their training.

Kakashi closed his eyes and thought for a moment. Then he turned around and followed his sensei.

Hatake Kakashi was lost no more.

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A/N: I dunno.. should I continue writing more chapters? This one's open ended..so yeah. Maybe I will. :) And oh. I write chapters with fewer words than other people's works. Does word count really matter to the reader? Err...cause for me, as long as I describe what happens clearly regardless of how many words it takes, it's fine. so there.. i hope that. you guys like it. reviews are well appreciated. :)


	2. Faded Photographs

A/N: This chapter is more like a transition…to take them out into the chaotic leaf-shinobi-mission world. More of Rin and Obito's POV, really. Oh well. Forgive me, but the situation was calling for it. I'll make it up to ya guys! :)

**I do not own Naruto.**

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The next day, Kakashi was awakened by a voice coupled with non-stop banging on his front door.

"Kakashiiiiiii! Kakaaaashi! Hey, you in there? Wake up!" shouted Obito with no consideration for the neighbors. Since it was just barely past 7 AM, no one was pleased with the racket Obito was making. Neighbors were shouting their abuse to Obito as Rin shrank behind Obito's back.

Obito, lower your voice!" said Rin, punching him on the back.

"Eh? They're awake already, aren't they? What's the point? Oh haha, Rin...sorry. This is urgent, isn't it? That was just my, errm, normal voice." said Obito (but nonetheless, he lowered his outrageous voice) "Why should I?"

The door opened by a centimeter without Obito noticing. A voice answered his question.

"Because if you don't, I'll make you wish you never met me."

Kakashi opened his door a little more, his eye gazing murderously at Obito from between the tiny gap he opened.

Obito recoiled a little but quickly recovered. He smiled, hoping it would soften Kakashi, and tugged Rin's hand. Rin gave a little start, unable to look at Kakashi because she was feeling the shame of Obito's early morning uproar. Kakashi opened the door fully.

He stood there at the doorway still in his sleep clothes, his hair messier than usual and his eyes droopy. He was still wearing his mask _("He sleeps with his mask on?!" thought Obito.)._

"Come in" he said to the two. The two got startled and they didn't really hide it. Kakashi raised his brows and said...

"I suppose you are here to tell me that our team has a mission, and I suppose you'll give me some details about it or Obito **here** wouldn't be so _enthusiastic and energetic _for graciously waking me up?"

Rin fidgeted a little and answered "Yes.".

"So hurry and come in. I'll read it inside, and Obito can hide himself from the people he woke up." said Kakashi, sparing Obito a withering look. Obito flashed a "peace" sign at Kakashi and said "Okay!"

Kakashi went inside, gesturing for the two to follow. They followed him.

Obito and Rin have never been inside Kakashi's house before. It was unusually well-organized for a house of a teen who lives by himself. There were books stacked on bookshelves and on the couch. Kakashi led them into the sitting room. _("Kakashi likes things tidy huh? WEIRD!" thought Obito.)_. If they didn't know who lived here, they would have thought that it belonged to a fussy old lady.

Obito sat on the couch, followed by Rin. He picked the book nearest to him.

Icha Icha Turnover. **

Obito grinned.

"So Kakashi, you read Icha Icha too eh? Haha! Who would've thought..." teased Obito.

Kakashi, who was sitting on another chair, gave Obito the evil eye then answered, his voice menacing.

"I read it for its great story, unlike you, you perverted Uchiha."

Kakashi wanted to laugh when he saw Obito's reaction.

"Perverted Uchiha?!" Rin tried her best not to laugh. She drew a deep breath to steady herself. _No laughing, No laugh- __**what's in that book?**__ -ing?!_

Obito looked as if Kakashi had punched him (though his words almost felt the same as that) and answered,

"I'm 15 so I can read anything for any reason I want, unlike **some people** who lie and cover up their real intentions with words." Obito was smirking silently.

He knew Kakashi read it for...well, it was Icha Icha after all.

Kakashi stared, unabashed, and turned to Rin.

"So...the mission?"

Rin held out a paper containing the details for their next mission. Kakashi read it and handed it back to Rin. They shall be setting out after an hour.

"Just…let me get dressed up" he said.

He went back inside his bedroom and searched for his clothes.

As soon as Kakashi was out of view, Obito leaned in and whispered something to Rin. Rin looked startled as Obito looked confused.

Looking around the room, they spotted pictures of their team on frames set upon the shelf near the unlit fireplace. One caught Rin's eye. It looks like the most well-cared for because compared to the other photos, it was more dust-free. The picture shows the first time Team Minato ever met.

Rin was hit by nostalgia. She smiled blankly, lost in her thoughts. She stood up and grabbed the photograph. She can't remember who took this photo. It was surprising to see that Kakashi somehow treasured their memories together by displaying a faded photograph. (Kakashi cared very much, he just doesn't show it. Really.)

She looked closer. Three children and their sensei posing awkwardly. Rin was smiling sheepishly. Minato has his hand on Rin's shoulder and the other on Kakashi's arm. The latter was trying to get out of the camera's range, so half of his face only got into the picture. Obito was at the middle, smiling with all his little Uchiha cuteness.

"Damn, Minato-sensei hasn't aged a bit" she thought. "Oh, Obito's goggles made him so cute then! And Kakashi!"

Meanwhile, Obito was getting impatient. Tired of waiting, he ran to the door of Kakashi's room. Just as he was about to knock, the door opened revealing a fully dressed Kakashi.

"Let's go" he said, nodding at Obito. Rin stood up and put the photograph back where it was and nodded too. They headed out towards the door.

"East gate, is it? Let's meet Minato-sensei."

Kakashi's eyes shone with subtle bliss.

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A/N: There. Photographs preserve memories until they fade, if not forever. Anyway, uhh, I just wanna show Kakashi's special feelings for Minato through what happened on this chapter. Subliminal messages rock. :)

** - I just made this up to have another title for an Icha Icha book. :D Why Icha Icha Turnover? I dunno too. Makes me think of omelets. =)


	3. Leaving

A/N: I like reading reviews, and I always reply with a message. It makes me so happy. :)

**I do not own any characters from Naruto (and if I owned Kakashi, then life would be oh-so-sweet)  
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The three arrived at the East Gate with just about half an hour to spare, but with no Minato in sight.

"Sensei's late again?" groaned Obito. "I wish he'd hurry up, I wanna get the mission started."

Kakashi was getting impatient too. It has been a while since Team Minato had a mission out of Konoha. These past few weeks, all they got was a mission to deliver ramen and flowers from the Yamanaka's shop to customers. Kakashi thought this was punishment for Obito's blunderings. The three were in the flower shop two weeks ago browsing for flowers to give to their sick sensei. Obito recently destroyed half of the flower shop when he thought that he saw a notorious Sand missing-nin there. Obito jumped into action without analyzing the situation and released his fireball jutsu there and then. Turns out, there was no notorious Sand missing-nin at all. It was just Anko with new Sand shinobi-like threads, trying to make everyone notice her new clothes. Her outfit includes a muffler that made her look like the missing-nin.

Anko got out clean, said she didn't think anyone would mistake her for something as such.

"_I was just trying to show my new outfit to Kakashi...", she said.  
_

But Obito, Rin and Kakashi didn't get off the hook. Rin and Kakashi weren't pleased, of course, but they were together when it happened so they shared the responsibility for Obito's _ultra-amazing fire jutsu_.

The Hokage heard about what happened and assigned their team to do delivery duties for the Yamanaka's flower shop to "make up for the damage". Kakashi could hear the Hokage laughing.

As for the ramen delivery, it was Kakashi's fault. A day after the flower shop incident, Minato took the team out for ramen to celebrate the day he got out of the hospital. Everything seemed to go normally, even Obito was calm enough. It was supposed to be a normal night, talking and laughing and stuff (and Kakashi has his eyes on a certain blonde). They had finished their ramen and were going to pay already when Obito burst out laughing, screaming "Minato-sensei didn't see the destruction bug I put in his bowl! He ATE it!".

Minato looked shocked and he turned green. Kakashi took the liberty of punishing Obito for making sensei eat one of the Aburame clan's creepy bugs. He chased Obito around the ramen shop with his chidori. In no time, he got Obito cornered. He lunged but lost aim when he heard Minato say "Kakashi, no!". He let his hand fall and hit the wall instead, causing an explosion. After that, there was a large hole on the shop's wall. Obito apologized to Minato and Kakashi after that. Minato just grinned and said "It's ok, I chewed it…I think. It won't feed of my chakra". Rin looked queasy upon the mention of the chewed bug. Kakashi wasn't happy and Obito has his "WTF!" face on while looking at Kakashi. Obito kept hiding behind Minato's back for the rest of the night. Of course, they had to pay for the damages. Two days was all it took for Team Minato to go broke. The Hokage assigned them another mission for delivery duties. Kakashi was sure the Hokage was doing this for fun.

Kakashi broke out of reliving his memories when he heard footsteps behind them. Sure enough, it was Minato.

"You're late!", said Obito, running at Minato. "You owe me another lesson for a _super-secret-jutsu_ you made!"

Minato smiled positively, said "Sure, sure!" and ruffled Obito's hair. Obito didn't like his hair getting ruffled so he jumped away, screaming "Grrr ahhh!". Kakashi wished that _he'd get his hair ruffled too. _Minato walked closer, closer, closer. Time seemed to go by sooooo slowly. _The graceful steps. How the sun hits his eyes, making them twinkle... _

"Why are you late anyway, sensei?" inquired Rin.

"I, uhh, got lost. I thought I was headed for the East gate, but I ended up West.", Minato said, giving a little chuckle. Then, he looked at Kakashi.

Kakashi suddenly became very interested on the dirt on his feet. Minato was so close, he could touch him. But he made eye contact with Minato a few seconds later.

"Kakashi, you okay?"

Kakashi was not okay. He haven't eaten yet. His head hurts like hell. His heart was beating fast, he wanted to hold Minato's hand. He doesn't really know why, but he wanted to grasp it and never let go. Yet he wouldn't. No, he should not. He can't. What would he think?

Kakashi was going through a whirlwind of emotions lately. He spent nights just staring at his bedroom ceiling, thinking what could he be really feeling. He thought about the years that will come and Minato was never out of the picture. There were times when he wanted to just jump on to Minato and say, "I think I love you".

But, Kakashi wasn't really sure. Maybe he just liked being with Minato. Maybe he just saw him like the father he lost so early. So he kept everything bottled up, but sometimes, he just wanted to explode and show everything.

Yet, he knew what might happen. He could be rejected, torn, and Minato could even ignore and avoid him so he kept his mouth shut, all the while trying to lock his heart too.

But, he knew it was real. He'd do anything for his sensei, his everything. Minato was real, and that would be enough...for now.

"Yeah, my head just hurts a...a little."

Minato reached for Kakashi and held his head close to his chest. Kakashi gasped. He thought he got electrocuted with Minato's touch.

Minato ruffled his hair, too and said "Even if there is pain now, everything will be alright."

He let go, giving Kakashi an encouraging smile. He clapped his hands together and said to the group...

"Okay, let's go!"

Rin, Obito, Kakashi and Minato went past the East gate in a blur of brown, silver and yellow.

_Everything will be alright... That was all he needed._

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A/N: The drama will begin soon. :D


	4. Sacrifice

A/N: The most unlikely people can bring out the best, or the worst, in you. Enough disclaimers. I don't own any characters. :D

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They hopped from mossy branch to mossy branch, barely disturbing the forest's peace. Minato was up front, followed by Kakashi, Rin and Obito. They had to follow this formation to protect the medic, because medics shouldn't be hurt while on a mission. If the medic gets injured or killed, who would assist if other injuries during the mission will occur?

Obito was at the end of the formation, his sharingan active. Sharingan isn't really as effective as Byakugan when it comes to scouting and detecting, and that's why Kakashi is there. He's fast. He's nimble. He almost never misses a thing. So if danger might arise, they could assume a defensive stance in a moment's notice.

"As you very well know, we have to comb a 17-kilometer radius around Konoha because we received intel that there are rogue Sound shinobis lurking around. They are reported to be planning to sneak into the village and we couldn't let that happen. Who knows what they might do? So right, if we see them, we are to report back to the village but if they engage in battle, then we do too. The mission order stated that there are only two of them, but be careful. I do not, I repeat, do NOT want anyone to get hurt. That means no attacking without thinking, understand?" said Minato without looking back at them.

"Yes." replied Kakashi, not taking his eyes off Minato's back.

"Yes, sir." said Rin, holding her bag containing medical supplies tightly.

"Hmm, okay!" said Obito, looking from left to right.

The forest was wilder as they proceeded. The thick canopy of leaves blocked out the mid-morning sun. It was getting chilly.

Half an hour passed, and Minato told them to stop.

"Okay, right now we are directly 17-kilometers east of Konoha." Minato looked at the three. "What, you guys are tired already?" He laughed. Not the kind that says "_ha!-that's-all-you-got?"_, but the kind that says _"Come on, just a little more, I know you can."_

Kakashi panted silently beside Minato. He used Minato arm for support and straightened up, and let go quickly. Rin was still standing up, wiping the sweat off her face. Obito was beside her, his head turned upward, and his face set into a serious expression. Kakashi tightened his hitai-ate more because it was slipping way beneath his forehead during their tree-jumping. Minato was surveying them very cheerfully, his hands behind his back and his face set in his trademark smirk.

"Hmm, so now we patrol around the village from this distance, I think… or would you like to sit for a while?" said Minato, putting his hands behind his head now.

"No, sensei." replied Obito, his expression not softening. Rin patted the back of Obito's right hand and smiled. Obito smiled in turn, but he was looking around the place. What could be wrong?

"I'm not tired yet, sensei." said Kakashi, looking at Minato full in the face. _"Damn!"_ Kakashi thought. _"He's all sweaty and I can smell him and he's so amazing and his arms look so strong oh I wanna hold on to them…"_

"Well okay then. Let's- !!!" Minato stopped so abruptly that Kakashi had to suppress a look of disappointment. Minato drew out a kunai and looked around tensely, his eyebrows scrunched together.

There was no need for words. Kakashi took a step and positioned himself next to Minato. The next second, Rin and Obito was near them too, looking cautiously around and trying to sense what bothered their sensei.

**Boom!**

"Sensei! Three o'clock!" shouted Obito.

An explosive tag attached to a kunai detonated to the right of Minato, directly in front of Kakashi. Minato reached for Kakashi, pushing him back. Thanks to Obito, they had a fraction of a second to evade. Smoke was everywhere, the smell of decaying leaves and grass filled their lungs. A second later, the smoke cleared. Minato's wind jutsu blew it away.

"Urgh..." Minato grunted beside Kakashi. His arm has some kunai shrapnel embedded in it. The bleeding was minimal, but Minato was hurt nevertheless.

Minato pushed Kakashi back…_He didn't want Kakashi to get hurt, so he shielded him…took the shrapnel for him_

But no sooner had the smoke cleared when two figures came crashing from up the trees. They wore Sound-ninja forehead protectors. They were brandishing katanas, running towards Team Minato.

Panic filled Kakashi's head but he didn't let it show. Everything was going so fast, but to him it seemed to happen in slow motion. He saw Obito performing hand seals, then releasing his fireball jutsu. He saw the enemies get out of the fire's way. He saw Rin healing Minato's arm. He saw his sensei's face cringing in pain for like a millisecond. Kakashi wanted to attack, yet he wanted to defend also. He wanted to assist Obito, yet he can't take his eyes off Minato.

Before he knew it, the enemies were closing in, katanas glinting ominously. They passed Obito without giving him a glance as he sent another fireball at them. Then it became clear.

They were going to wipe the leader first, before taking on the others.

Kakashi ran instinctively to Minato, wishing that he would not be too late. What he would do, he does not know. Anything, any jutsu, anything to protect Minato. He ran as fast as he could, his heart pounding faster in his chest. Nothing mattered more than his sensei. No, nothing… He could not just stand here and do nothing. He didn't hear Obito shouting, telling him that this is a great time for chidori. He didn't hear Rin scream as Minato told her to distance. He didn't hear Rin protest. He didn't hear Minato's shout of rage at the attackers.

He saw Minato's mouth move, and Rin was pushed away.

Kakashi had to make a choice.

It was really not a hard decision. _Anything to keep Minato-sensei safe._

Kakashi jumped in front of Minato as the Sound ninjas put their katanas forward, about to stab Minato. Kakashi felt the blades pierce his skin. He felt its coldness touch his flesh. He felt pain, but he pushed the feeling aside. He must save…them.

Kakashi drew all his chakra with all his remaining strength on his palm. He shot the Sound ninjas one last look of pure contempt. The rogue ninjas looked shocked for a moment, then the chirps of a thousand birds rang throughout the dark forest. Kakashi thrust his hand forward, and upon hitting the Sound bastards, he looked behind him.

Minato was safe. He was not reached by the deadly blades. Kakashi took it for him.

He saw Obito pushing the bodies of the Sound ninjas away and to make sure they were dead, released another fireball jutsu at them. All the while, Obito was screaming something, Kakashi only heard words like "Why?!" and "my friend!". He saw Rin pull out the blades from his body. He felt Minato's hands, _oh the hands he loves to hold ,_ lowering him onto the ground, as Rin started applying medical jutsu. Rin's eyes were swimming with tears, but she didn't stop working.

"_Even if there is pain now, everything will be alright."_

They said that when you are dying, your whole life flashes before your eyes. But Kakashi only saw Minato's anguished face. He wanted to touch his sensei's face but his arms failed him.

"Sorry Kakashi… I was too slow.", said Minato as a tear made its way down his cheek.

"It's okay sensei…" was all Kakashi could manage. He attempted a smile behind his mask.

Once again, he felt loved.

And then, he blacked out.

_He hoped that…sensei will make it alright._

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A/N: It is too early for deaths. I so love this chapter. Thanks to those who review the chapters regularly! :D And to those who don't, thanks for reading! Oh don't think that I am demanding for reviews, no! I just enjoy reading them. :)


	5. Of the sky and clouds

Obito is a real friend. He knows what Kakashi feels without being told, that's how strong their bond is. Though that bond isn't expressed strongly, it has always been there.

A/N: This is Obito's point of view. Okay. It's a bit confusing, some might say… But you just wait; it'll all connect and make sense. Kakashi is…resting for now, so the spotlight is on Uchiha Obito! (Claps). There are bits of this and that here.. Ahh, friendship. It's the thing which starts everything wonderful.

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Obito always saw Kakashi as a brother, even though Kakashi was always trying to seclude himself from pretty much everything. He used to pick fights with Kakashi when they were younger, and almost always he would lose. He would always say after every loss, "I'm going to be better than you Kakashi!", and Kakashi would just shrug and turn away. You could say that Kakashi was Obito's inspiration to go the extra mile. It was Kakashi who, unconsciously, taught him to be strong-willed and to always strive for improvement.

He wondered how someone as stoic and reticent as Kakashi could lay his life on the line for their team leader. Oh, Obito knew that deep inside, Kakashi is capable of compassion and stuff like that too, just like everybody else.

…and now, because of his compassion and willingness to sacrifice he lay on a hospital bed, being watched by Obito. He watched as Kakashi's life dwindled away, his broken teammate's **- no, best friend's -** chest rising slowly. Obito fought back tears. He couldn't stand seeing him like this. He couldn't stand knowing WHY Kakashi threw his body in front of the wretched swords to protect Minato. He couldn't stand knowing how Kakashi kept all his feelings unknown to the one they were meant for. Obito was so sad…so sad because Kakashi couldn't even express himself because he's got a name to live up to.

_Hatake… Hatake Kakashi._

Obito knew that it must've been hard for Kakashi. He knew the feeling of confusion, of denial and anger that came with love. He felt so deeply for Kakashi that he wished he could split Kakashi's pain and take the half.

Obito wanted to shake Kakashi into waking up so he could tell him that he knew why Kakashi embraced the possibility of death to protect Minato-sensei. He wanted to make up for lost time. He wanted to tell Kakashi that he could always talk to him about anything, everything!

These past few months, Obito started noticing Kakashi's change in behavior. When Minato was around, he noticed that Kakashi would look everywhere but at Minato. He noticed that Kakashi's eyes would widen for a moment then soften when Minato makes physical contact with him (and knowing Kakashi, he doesn't really like physical contact.)

Obito was sure. He was sure that in spite of the confusion and denial, Kakashi was learning to open his heart.

He looked outside the window and saw a clear, blue sky. It made him remember something.

Once, Minato called the team for a meeting. He announced that he will take the team out into the hills to "see and feel nature" because it's "good for the body and soul". Obito groaned and said that nature trips are boring and stupid. He remembered Rin looking eager when the words "nature trip" was mentioned. Obito remembered that Kakashi said that he was no fan of nature trips, but he'll go anyway because he's got nothing else to do. He recalled that Kakashi stayed at the back of the team while walking to their destination, all the while stealing glances at Minato.

Obito recalled making his Kakashi-likes-sensei theory then. He decided to just observe Kakashi and Minato all throughout the trip. Minato took them to rivers and waterfalls and that kind of stuff. To Obito, it all seemed like seeing trees. Minato was talking along the way, going on about how nature is so great and that people should preserve it. Obito noticed Kakashi was listening very intently, and he grew more suspicious.

Around mid-day, Obito called for a break and sensei obliged. Minato took them to a field beyond a forest where he said he feels peaceful and relaxed. Obito was quite surprised when Maito Gai came running out of the surrounding trees and shouting as he went without stopping, "Oh Kakashi, my youthful rival. I see you appreciate nature too, yes? Well, I must be going. I am still punishing myself for losing on our last face-off. I have to run 32 kilometers more, and my youthful energy still isn't gone!" After that, Gai vanished into the forest again. Kakashi looked mildly interested. However, he gave a little start as Minato spoke about Maito Gai being a devoted and _youthful_ rival.

Unexpected is what you call Kakashi's smile. Obito saw Kakashi's eyes curve happily. Obito saw Kakashi smile a number of times before, but it never amazes him to see his friend show emotion.

After that, Minato started to talk. Obito was too absorbed in his own thoughts to listen.

What if Kakashi did like Minato-sensei more than a boy should? What if Kakashi was…well, having feelings for men? What could a friend do to help? Does Kakashi even need help?

Obito was not really appalled or anything. He was more concerned for Kakashi than ever before. Obito was seriously considering talking to Kakashi about it when something came and crashed into his senses.

"So love isn't really a thing to be scared about. Sometimes it hurts, but without it, you can't be called a man." said Minato.

A moment's silence followed his statement, and then –

"Sensei, is there a right reason for love?" asked Kakashi. He was pulling at the grass he was sitting on and shredding them with his hands. When he let the shredded grass fall, the wind would blow them a little farther away.

Obito turned his head so fast towards Kakashi that his neck almost cracked. _Hatake Kakashi does not ask questions such as those._

"Hmm" Minato thought for a while. He looked up at the sky and considered for a moment. Then his features lit up and he asked in return.

"Kakashi, is there a reason why the clouds drift up there at heaven?" Minato said a little childishly, but looking pleased with himself.

Rin looked up at the azure sky and looked at Obito. Obito shrugged and continued staring at Kakashi. Kakashi kept his eyes down, clearly thinking hard about what he was going to answer. Slowly, he lifted his head and looked at Minato.

"No. They are there because they have to be there." he said slowly. "And without clouds, the sky would not seem like the sky…just an empty expanse of blue nothingness."

Minato showed a little hint of surprise at Kakashi's answer. Maybe that wasn't the answer he was expecting. Nevertheless, he grinned at Kakashi and said "Well, there it is! You answered your own question."

Kakashi looked confused and started shredding grass again. "No I didn't", he said.

"Yes you did! You just said that clouds need no reason to exist. You said that without clouds, we can't call its blue backdrop as the sky."

Kakashi looked more confused. Rin seemed to realize something because she smiled faintly, her eyes gazing into space, apparently lost in her own thoughts about the reasons of love.

"No sensei. I said that clouds are there so we can call the blue-colored space as the sky. They are there so that we could tell apart what the sky is, and what clouds are."

Minato's smile didn't falter as he spoke softly.

"Exactly, Kakashi. Love is part of being a man. Love is here so that we can be distinguished as human. Of all the living things, I could say that humans are the only ones to feel love. It cannot be separated, or forcibly taken out. It's nothing to be scared of, really."

Kakashi stopped shredding the little blades of grass and looked at Minato.

"Okay", he said hastily, and he picked up a pebble and began touching it.

"Eh sensei? Sometimes the sky doesn't have clouds… so what if a person can't feel love?" piped up Rin, her eyes shining with interest.

Minato answered as if he was waiting for this question.

"Oh it'll come. Clouds never fail to appear, do they?"

Obito was brought back to the present time when the door opened. It was Rin and their friends. Gai, Asuma, Kurenai, Iruka, Genma, Anko and Minato went inside, each holding flowers or cards for Kakashi. Obito noticed that he had a stray tear welling up on his eyes so he quickly brushed it away with a finger.

Obito smiled and greeted everyone, taking care to remind them to be quiet so as to not wake Kakashi up. Rin approached Obito and told him to go home and get some rest.

"You have been here since last night, you go rest at home." she said.

Obito was getting quite tired already, so he followed Rin's command. He waved everyone goodbye and when he has his hand on the doorknob, got his back patted by Minato.

"Thanks.", whispered Minato.

Obito said that it was nothing and grinned at Minato. He went out the room and made his way home.

_Someday, it won't really matter how many times you breathed. What matters more is who took your breath away._

Obito knew that Kakashi will wake up. Clouds never fail to appear, do they?

* * *

A/N: They say promises are meant to be broken, but some are made to be realized. Some secrets are meant to be hidden, but some are destined to be revealed someday. Review please? Thanks much.


	6. Securely Harbored

I'm getting the hang of writing fics. Oyeah. Anyway, a shoutout to Gensomaden-Saiyuki. (if you're reading this) You rock. :) *waves hand and screams.

* * *

It was only mid-morning but Namikaze Minato has already much on his mind. He rubbed the back of his neck and his temple and shook his head, hoping that the headache he was starting to feel would go away.

Yesterday, he was summoned by the Third Hokage very early in the morning. When he met with the Sandaime, he was told that his team will be sent on a mission as soon as its injured member recovers.

"Has Hatake Kakashi been recovering well?" the Hokage asked upon Minato's entrance to the room.

"He's been out of the hospital two days ago." answered Minato. "He's good to go."

The Hokage scratched his left brow. He looked down at his desk, frowning. He searched for something on his cluttered desk, found it, and handed it to Minato.

"Here's your mission. That's A-rank so I want you to take two extra jounins on your team."

He fumbled around again in search of something on his desk. He found what he was looking for and handed two file folders to Minato.

"First one is Yuhi Kurenai. That girl is pretty skilled at genjutsu and she would be a great asset in battle." The Sandaime said, his eyes not leaving Minato's.

Minato looked at Yuhi Kurenai's file. He remembered her as Obito, Kakashi and Rin's friend. He was pretty sure that she visited Kakashi in the hospital six days ago. He looked at the other file as the Hokage continued to speak. He recognized the other as Asuma, another friend of Kakashi.

"The other is my son, Asuma. Just take him along, I know he's itching for some action." he said with a little smile.

"Understood." replied Minato.

"That would be all." said the Hokage, turning his chair around to gaze out the window. Minato turned to go out of the room. He was almost at the door when the Hokage spoke.

"Namikaze, why do you think the Hatake kid took the blows meant for you?"

Minato froze. He rubbed his palms together uncertainly and turned around to face the back of the Hokage's chair. Then he spoke, though he didn't really know what to say.

"I do not know, Hokage-sama…" he hesitated. "I think he was trying to…to protect me."

Minato had a sudden flashback of what happened a week ago.

_Kakashi…why though?_

Once again, he saw Rin's hands glow with her chakra as she proceeded to heal Kakashi's wounds. He recalled how Rin took out her medical supplies from her bag and laid it out onto the cold, earthen floor. He recalled how Rin calmly said that Kakashi had some pierced organs, but he noted the trace of panic in her voice. He remembered the withering look of Kakashi's eyes meeting his own pair, the teacher looking upon the student, death possibly a minute away. He remembered feeling Kakashi's body go limp in his hands as Rin declared that they should go back to the village for full-medical attention if they want Kakashi to see sunlight again. He remembered the sadness piercing his heart. He could only look on as someone he loved nearly as the child he never had wasted away. Rin took her hands off Kakashi when Obito begged Minato to go. He remembered feeling helpless as he watched Kakashi die a little in his arms.

An unfamiliar pain clawed at Minato's chest. He grasped at the front of his vest directly over his heart. His heart felt heavy.

_He realized it didn't have to happen. Then Kakashi would've been fine…_

He straightened up when the Hokage turned around to face him.

"Protect you?" the Sandaime Hokage said in a disbelieving voice. "Why?"

Minato looked at a distant building out of the window. He does not know what to say to this old man. He started to speak slowly.

"I guess…he felt, since we have been in one team for so long, he had to do it."

He blinked. The sun has risen and its sudden outburst of light hit Minato's eyes.

"He didn't have to do that." he added.

The Hokage clasped his hands together and laid his chin upon them. He surveyed Minato magisterially. Minato tried his best to look back into the Hokage's eyes.

"No, he didn't." the Hokage said, raising a hand to emphasize the words.

"No, he didn't." Minato repeated.

The Hokage stood up and walked towards the window. He opened one and said,

"Namikaze, sometimes what people _have _and _need _to and what they _want_ to do are two different things." the Third Hokage said, facing Minato once again. "Very different."

"How different?" asked Minato. He was feeling dumb now.

"People do things for two reasons. Only two, Namikaze." the Hokage said, closing his eyes as he went. Minato swept his hair up in an attempt to ease his discomfort.

"One reason is the call of duty. People do things for this reason when they _have and need_ to."

The Hokage stretched his arms and went back to sit behind his desk. Minato waited, a little eagerly this time.

"The other is the whim of the heart. People do things for this reason when they _want_ to. Things like, say, being prepared to die so **you** might live, Namikaze."

Minato tried his absolute best to keep his expression blank.

"_If so, then I need, no, I want to repay Kakashi in any way I can."_ he thought.

The Hokage didn't say a word for quite a while. Minato stood there, rooted to the spot. Finally, the Hokage shattered the unhappy silence.

"An order from me, Minato. Keep an eye on Hatake Kakashi." he said. "I want you to do that. He's a special kid, that one."

"Yes he is, Hokage-sama." he replied.

"Am I to understand that you will exert your greatest efforts in keeping Hatake Kakashi from doing stupid things?"

"Of course." said Minato. _He could only obey, and why not? He loved that kid as if he was his own. He's good as his own son… the son he can't seem to have yet._

Sarutobi gave a knowing smile and said, "You can go now."

Minato nodded to show his comprehension and went out of the door.

* * *

He was brought back to the present when someone tapped him on the back.

"Minato-sensei?"

"Huh?"

It was Obito, followed closely by Rin, Asuma and Kurenai. Rin smiled at Minato, and he smiled back. Minato looked over at Asuma and Kurenai, nodding when their eyes met. Asuma, even at his young age was smoking a cigarette.

"_They sure do start early these days..." he thought._

Kurenai, whose dark hair fell in clumps around her pretty face was standing behind Asuma. She had a sophisticated air about her that Minato found truly mysterious and overwhelming.

"Hey, I thought I told you guys to wait for me at Ichiraku Street?" said Minato.

"You're so slow sensei." said Obito. "We thought-", he stopped when he saw Asuma glare at him. "Okay, **I** thought that we should go after you, ya know? You're always spacing out."

Minato gave and awkward and embarrassed chuckle to Obito.

"I'm not that slow. I just… I don't feel really great these days."

"Oh, sorry sensei." said Obito, his eyebrows knitting together. Then there was silence. Minato just smiled. He didn't know why, he just did.

"Okay!" he declared so suddenly that the teens were surprised even by a little. "Let's go fetch Kakashi together. His place is not too far now."

So they walked. Along the way, Minato oriented them some more about the mission.

They have to infiltrate three of eight rogue Rock ninja bases. Unlike last time, they know exactly where the adversaries are. Each base has five to seven rogue Rock ninjas. Criminals, they heard. The Leaf had been so gracious to take care of these matters because it was reported that the rogue ninja groups were planning to attack Konoha from within, and to invade it.

"Tch. As if the Rock rogue dogs could invade the Leaf." Minato thought to himself. It was pathetic and stupid, the invasion thing.

For one, the Leaf and the Rock were now at peace after the war. Another, Leaf shinobi outnumber Rock forces. And God, whoever sent those few rogue ninjas must've been mentally ill or something, thinking a full invasion could take place. And that is what exactly the Hokage pondered. Hidden motives, surely. So the Leaf had to stop them now.

Minato finished explaining. He looked over his shoulder. The teens were looking dead-serious. The prospect of engaging in battle probably got them thinking. He was glad that they were starting to grow up.

He was about to explain the battle tactics when he thought that it would be best if Kakashi would be there to hear it too ("…and to save me my voice," thought Minato.).

They continued walking; they had much time to spare. Well, not that much. Much, like, 2 hours until they have to leave.

Obito jogged and went to walk beside Minato. He spoke in a low voice, pushing his goggles down to lay in front of his eyes.

"Minato-sensei?"

"Hmm?"

Minato looked at Obito. He was quite taken aback when he saw Obito has his sharingan on active mode; all the while staring at him. He was so used to seeing Obito's brown eyes during times when they had no missions, so seeing them go red now was unexpected.

"Sensei…" Obito said in a rough whisper. "Look."

Then something hit Minato's…mind? A memory? No. A feeling, maybe? Not quite. It was Obito's own thoughts. The kid was transferring his thoughts to him. It was one of the abilities of the Uchiha clan's sharingan.

It contained something Minato had an inkling of all along. So Obito notices it too, he thought. Perhaps, this was what the Hokage's order was all about. Maybe this was the reason why Kakashi did what he did.

Obito elbowed Minato's arm. Minato looked at him, eyes at level with each other. _(My, they grow so fast, he thought)._

"I know." he whispered to Obito. "It doesn't need a reason, does it?"

Obito kept the eye contact, his eyes returning to normal by the second. He wiped a drop of sweat from his brow and whispered,

"Sensei, I think Kakashi is…" started Obito. But Minato cut him short.

"I know, Obito. I really don't know what to do about it. But hey, he is still Kakashi. I'm glad that he knows of such emotions and feelings."

Obito seemed to be struggling with words. He blurted, "He's not the touchy-feely type, sensei. I know…he wants assurance…and…and stuff."

Minato sighed and passed his hand on the metal part of his hitai-ate. He whispered, "I really don't know what to do, but I'll be there for him. For all of you, alright?"

Minato put his arm 'round Obito's far shoulder and squeezed in a fatherly way. _I'd gladly be a second to father to you three, you know that._

"Okay." said Obito and punched Minato lightly on the arm. He grinned and looked forward. Minato laughed and ruffled Obito's hair. He really likes messing Obito's hair and Kakashi's hair for that matter. He would laugh when the two spiky-haired youth would wrench themselves out of his hands. Now, Obito didn't struggle against him. Minato was happy.

Minato turned left and stopped in front of a little house which belonged to Kakashi. He motioned to the four to go on. Once alone, he knelt down.

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu." he muttered, making hand seals and wiping his bleeding thumbs on the thigh of the left leg of his pants after. A huge, Minato-sized frog wearing a crimson robe appeared on the ground. Rin, who stayed back a little, caught sight of the summoned frog and mumbled something about not liking frogs and quickly followed the three.

"You called?" the frog said.

"Ah yes, Gamasuke. Get me my set of special kunai at your place, please? Left it there last time, by the fountain."

Gamasuke said "Right." and vanished in a puff of smoke.

"Haha, I almost forgot. I can't fight without them kunai…" he said to no one in particular.

Obito ran towards Kakashi's door, closely followed by Rin, Asuma and Kurenai. Minato saw Obito knock at Kakashi's door, and Gamasuke reappeared.

Gamasuke held out a scroll containing Minato's special-shaped kunai. Minato took it and placed it inside his backpack.

"Hey Minato. I feel what you feel. Just do what you have to do." said Gamasuke in a low, rumbling voice.

Minato nodded and started walking towards Kakashi's door.

"Yeah, Gamasuke. I know, thanks."

Gamasuke disappeared again in a puff of white smoke.

Minato knocked on the door upon reaching it. Obito caught Minato's eye and Minato winked at him. He took a deep breath.

Today, he is not the Yellow Flash of Konoha. Today, he is Namikaze Minato, a team leader who does his best to care.

Minato held the cold steel knocker. He called out as he knocked once more.

"Kakashi?"

* * *

A/N: Urgh, kinda went far with writing this chapter. Yay! I wrote a 2000-word chapter! ;) Chapter seven is on it's way..


	7. Out into the Open

Kakashi woke up to the knocks on his door and the calm voice of Minato calling his name, mingled with Obito and Rin's. He jumped out of bed. He winced slightly; the pain he felt from the stab wounds had diminished but it stayed nevertheless.

He cried, "Just a minute." and searched his dresser for clothes. He put on his green flak jacket and hastened to tie on his forehead protector. He tried to flatten his unruly hair but ended up making it messier, so much that it looked intentional and styled.

He opened the bathroom door and washed his face quickly. He wiped his face dry, sparing himself another glance of his reflection on the mirror before pulling his mask up to his nose.

Hatake Kakashi picked his backpack from the floor and slung it onto his back and shut his weapon holster close. He had a feeling that something would come up so he kind of prepared beforehand.

From behind the closed door, Kakashi could smell cigarette smoke.

"Asuma." he thought, waving his hand in front of his f ace to fan away the smoke.

He opened the door and saw Kurenai and Asuma standing behind Obito, Minato and Rin. His heart skipped a beat when gray eyes met an azure pair, prompting him to avert his eyes sideways to Rin.

Rin smiled sweetly, one hand on the strap of her medical kit and the other on her hip. Kakashi said "Yo" and put his left hand up to acknowledge the others.

Minato plunged his hand in a side pocket and retrieved a folded paper. He unraveled it, trying to straighten a few crumples and handed it to Kakashi.

"Great morning, isn't it, Kakashi?" Minato said gleefully.

Kakashi murmured "Yeah, great." to Minato and took the paper. He instantly recognized Minato's handwriting. The note contains details about today's mission.

"_A-rank. Great. So that's why the team's composed of jounins only.__** Great.**__" Kakashi thought._

Kakashi wondered why the mission order was in handwritten form. Maybe sensei lost or destroyed the original copy, he thought. Kakashi chuckled silently.

Kakashi noted the unique way of how Minato wrote the letters "f" and "s". Minato wrote in a legible script, unlike someone whose writing looks like a cross between a cat's hairball and the Brownian motion. _Uchiha Obito's writing, ha-ha._

Kakashi finished reading, said "I'm done." and handed the note back to Minato.

Minato turned to walk out into the road as Kakashi sealed his house with a couple of security jutsus. He followed after performing the last seal, saying "Wait up!" to the group when he saw that they were at a relatively far distance.

Kakashi caught up with them. He suddenly felt a sharp pain in his abdominal area when he pulled his pack further up his back. He gave a little grunt and clutched at the point of the pain. Asuma heard him, and throwing his unlit cigarette stick aside, offered to carry Kakashi's load with him.

"You need help with that?" inquired Asuma, looking over at Kakashi's luggage.

"Uhh, yeah, sure." Kakashi said, handing his backpack to Asuma.

Asuma threw it over his shoulder and shifted uncertainly. When he found balance, he said, "I'll carry these for a while, yeah?"

Kakashi nodded, silently thanking Asuma's kindness.

Minato jumped onto a nearby roof, shouting the words "North Gate!". Obito and Kurenai followed him, appearing as blurs as they went. Rin hopped from roof to roof, motioning for Asuma and Kakashi to follow. Asuma jerked his head in the direction of their teammates and took off. Kakashi jumped up to a roof, taking in gulps of the fresh morning air.

"Another day on the battlefield." he heard Kurenai murmur to him when he and Asuma caught up.

Kurenai smiled and swept her hair from her face before looking forward once again. He noticed Asuma looking at Kurenai from behind. Asuma's eyes seemed unfocused.

Kakashi watched Rin finger her senbon and kunai pouch from a distance. He smirked when Obito tripped on a roof tile and almost face-planted on the roof. Good thin Minato-sensei caught Obito 'round the collar and pulled him up with one hand. Kakashi watched as the sleeve of the undershirt beneath Minato's vest skirted up a little, showing his toned biceps. Kakashi looked up and pinched his own cheek.

They stepped down before the enormous North Gate, the sun already glaring down at them. A little further outside the gates, he saw Gai watching a fur-clad and apparently furious Anko chasing a very pale Genma.

Minato noticed the small commotion and went to talk to Gai.

"What's Genma done this time?" he asked Gai with a little shake of the head. Gai answered overenthusiastically.

"Genma, with his overflowing youthful energy, was throwing his senbon at the bushes." Gai said, making animated re-enactments of what he was retelling. "Said he saw a bear. Turns out, the bear was Anko wearing her brown fur coat, waiting for Genma to come near the bushes to surprise him. One of his senbon hit Anko in a most youthful place and there, she went wild. Ahh, Anko's bedazzling tricks backfired."

Gai closed his eyes dramatically and nodded, finishing his _youthful_ explanation by putting his hands on his hips.

"The usual Anko, goofing around. No wonder she just got promoted to jounin." breathed Asuma, lighting another cigar stick and taking a puff.

"That fur coat is just plain crazy. Ha-ha!" said Kurenai, laughing with Rin.

Minato marched forward into the distance. His voice didn't carry out to where Team Minato was, but they could see he was trying to stop the chase.

Kakashi rubbed his eyes. Dust got caught in it. He heard Kurenai ask Gai.

"Are you on a mission to infiltrate bases too, Gai?" she asked.

"Ahh, yes, my friend. We just got back. Me, Genma and Anko. Took down one group of ninjas before daybreak. Raidou got hurt though, so we went back. We got no medical ninja on the team, see." answered Gai.

"Oh, I see." said Kurenai.

The others talked for a while. Kakashi was watching Minato all the while, taking in every little detail of him. How his mouth moved when he says the word "Stop.". How his brows would furrow when Anko would voice her reason for chasing Genma. How his face softened into an understanding smile when Genma expressed his side.

Minato went back with a more sober Anko and a shaking Genma. Kakashi stood, waiting for orders.

Team Minato waved the three good-bye and went on. There was no road to follow so into the forest they went. Kakashi caught a last glimpse of Gai doing his good-guy pose before jumping from branch to branch once again.

Some minutes passed in silence, but Minato broke it.

"This mission may take a week, that being the longest time we could finish it. That includes espionage and assault. I say, we operate on a tight 5-day schedule, or maybe we could finish earlier than that. The bases are not that for from each other, I think ten to fourteen kilometers apart. So yeah, there." he finished, making a sideways glance at Kakashi. Kakashi's face felt hot, his hands went numb. "Yeah, yeah sensei." he thought.

"…and I will say this once more." Minato continued. "I do not want anyone to get hurt. Especially you, Kakashi."

Minato went closer to Kakashi and put his arm around him like he did to Obito earlier. In midair, check that.

"Nghh.." grunted Kakashi.

_He can't breathe. Sensory overload. Sensei's gruff, one-armed hugs are the stuff his dreams are made of. Gaaaahhh, Minato-sensei is so close oh-my-gosh-why-?!_

Minato let go and gave him a pat on the back. He advanced some more, giving Kakashi a full view of his back. Kakashi sighed and almost lost his footing. Obito caught him and pushed him back up. He said a quick "Thanks." to Obito before slowing down and matching his tree-to-tree jumping pace with Rin.

"Everyone! Take care, right?" said Minato to the group.

"Yeah." said Obito, flaring up his Sharingan.

"Yes, sensei." said Rin, adjusting her headband and wiping sweat from her face.

"Yes, sir." answered Kurenai.

"Sure." said Asuma, smoke trailing behind him.

*

Today is a great day. New horizons are appearing for Kakashi. It will be a great day indeed. He got no fear in his chest. He smiled widely behind his mask, his eyes curving happily. Rin seemed to notice and she shyly laughed.

He saw Minato give him an approving nod, those eyes creasing perfectly. He saw Rin nod in encouragement. He saw Obito give him a thumbs-up. He looked behind him and saw Kurenai raise an eyebrow, smirking playfully. He heard Asuma say something like "Trouble is a friend." and saw him grin with a cigarette between his lips.

Kakashi knew. Everything will be just fine. He answered Minato.

"Right…-" his heart swelled with inexplicable joy.

"…_-sensei."_

_

* * *

A/N: _Posted two chapters up in one night. Ah, my fingers hurt. It was worth it though. Review if you would. :) I love the addition of Kurenai and Asuma to the team. ;) Imma go draft battle scenes tomorrow, hmm. ;))


	8. Runaway

A/N: Italics are something that is thought about. Ew, I can't find the words to explain it. Oh you get it.. something that is said inwardly. Riiiiight. But not all. Heh. :) Aw, this author's note is a mess. :) :)

* * *

Six hours of traveling passed and the thick canopy of leaves that shielded their heads from the suddenly-absent sun was replaced by a heavily clouded sky. In the distance, a river was flowing resiliently, patiently making it's way to the ocean. Everything seemed to be tinted gray; the clouds were blocking the warm sunlight.

Kakashi felt rather tired, and judging by the others' looks, they were too. The oldest jounin announced that they had to be halfway to their destination by now. Minato motioned for them to go by the river. He settled on the green grass near a tree trunk by the river. Asuma and Rin sat down by a flat rock where Kurenai gracefully perched on as she took of her footwear and started massaging her feet. Obito sat near Rin, and Kakashi turned to follow. He sat beside Kurenai on the rock, putting his backpack down and feeling his shoulders. Once everyone was settled down, the leader addressed all of them.

"God, I'm hungry. How 'bout you guys?"

Five disbelieving stares turned his way.

"What? I **am** hungry.", he said. He stretched out his arms and put his hands behind his head, then turned his back on the teens. "I know you are too."

Minato turned around at grinned knowingly. Rin pointedly took out her pouch of food pills and offered it to him, her eyebrows raising as she did. Minato laughed and said, "Don't you want any real food? Pills aren't enough. Shinobi can't control chakra well when hungry, you know?"

Kakashi tried to look unbothered by Minato-sensei's sudden expression of hunger. However, he felt hungry too and was not very inclined to consuming soldier pills that stand as food rations for missions.

"If that's what Namikaze-sensei wants, well, let's just do it." said Asuma, taking off his sweaty forehead protector, then pocketing it. His hair now fell over his eyes, reducing his rather intimidating appearance to a quite charming look. Kakashi saw Kurenai look at Asuma in an adoring way, but she resumed to massaging her feet when she saw him looking at her. Kakashi thought he saw her blush before her hair covered her face.

"Okay, guys, let's fish. Ladies, stay here." said Minato, pointing at the river. "We'll be back in no time.".

And Kakashi got dazzled once more when he saw Minato look at him. _The man didn't even do anything. He just looked at you. Damn, get a grip Kakashi!_

Obito, Asuma and Minato were already on the river when he recovered from the weird sensation. Kakashi quickly went to the side of the river and effortlessly stepped on the water, focusing his chakra on his feet to keep him standing. Minato took off his gloves and rolled up his sleeves. The two did the same too, and Kakashi mimicked their actions.

"Now, I'll go further upstream. You guys fish here.", said Minato. He walked against the current as if he was walking on land. He stopped walking a some few yards away and started surveying the clear waters for signs of fish.

Kakashi looked down and saw no signs of any kind of fish. All he saw was stones and pebbles littering the riverbed. He remembered what he saw Kurenai do a little while back, and turned to Asuma. Kakashi tried to start a conversation to brighten up this dull task.

"Asuma... What's do you find in a girl that... you know, uhhm... you like?"

_BEEEEEP! Why did I ask that? No no no no, I must take that back, no no n-.._

"Eh? Well, I like many things in a girl. Haha!" said Asuma, grinning mischievously at Kakashi. "How 'bout you?". Kakashi saw Obito lurch slightly out of the corner of his eye.

_Crash. Why did I even ask that stupid question? Okay, okay. I have to make up something...even if I don't really like girls.._

"Uhh, I-uh... I-.. I like-.."

"Slave labor!!!", screamed Obito. Kakashi was majorly startled because of Obito's surprising scream. He looked at Obito, who patted him on the arm and jerked his head a little to Rin's direction.

Kakashi looked over at the girls, who were obviously talking animatedly. That was what Kakashi liked when he was teamed up with the Yellow Flash. Even they were on a mission now, he felt safe. No one was looking paranoid like some enemies would just jump out of the bushes (which was totally possible). He resumed his gazing at the riverbed, thinking to himself how he felt that way.

"Well if you ask me, I like them with the strong and silent type.", said Obito before plunging his hand in the water and withdrawing a large, struggling fish. "Ha! Caught one."

"Strong and silent type? Isn't that more, like, a guy you're speaking of?" said Asuma, throwing two fish that he caught on to the grass where they slapped their fins uncontrollably.

"Uhh no! Look at Rin. You've never seen her fight, have you? She's like, whoa! A fighting medical ninja. Now that's cool, right Kakashi? Simply awesome. And I love her. Haha."

"R-right.". Kakashi attempted to snatch a little fish from underwater and he succeeded. Looking pleased with himself, he held out the fish and carefully placed it on the riverbank.

"..me? Oh I dunno, someone like Kurenai?", was what Kakashi heard Asuma saying when he came back to their spot on the river. Obito and Asuma sniggered.

"Do you have a man-crush, Asuma?" asked Obito, his brown eyes looking at the sky.

"What? Urgh, that's gay. Pssh." said Asuma, laughing.

"Wha-? No! I mean, everyone's got them. I meant, a guy you really admire." said Obito.

"Well, I guess none? I'm the greatest. Haha! Kidding!" said Asuma. "I have none of this "man-crush" that you say. Brrrr, thinking of me having a crush on another man makes my spine tingle."

"It's not bad, isn't it?" said Kakashi, eliciting looks from Obito and Asuma. He looked quite surprised with what he said too.

"I mean, it's alright. To admire the greatness of other men, I guess. Hmm."

_Fuck you, Hatake Kakashi!! You almost blew your cover...that you, you like-_

"Hey, I think liking other guys is not a reason to hate yourself..or to hate guys who like guys for that matter." said Obito, scratching his head. "I read that it is a phase in the teenage years, you know. Identity crisis or somethin'.."

Asuma looked surprised.

"Y-you read?"

"Yes, I do. I like reading. That way, I learn." said Obito, laughing with Asuma. Kakashi gave a weak chuckle.

_Saved. For now? Gaaaah!_

Kakashi glanced at Minato surreptitiously, pretending to look around the place. He saw him still empty-handed, but nevertheless focused. _When he's serious, he's just...so handsome._

_"Wait, what-?"_

Kakashi's inner self seemed to step on the brakes. _No, no no no no. Men don't say that other men are handsome. Right, Kakashi? RIGHT._

"...so, Namikaze-sensei huh?" said Asuma so suddenly that Kakashi lost control of his chakra. His right foot fell into the water before he could get it right again.

"W-what?!" said Kakashi. He could feel his cheeks burn. _Mask, don't fail me now!!!_

"I said, what do you like about Namikaze-sensei?" said Asuma.

"Like? Uhh. Why? Aren't we talking about...about what was it again Obi-...?".

Kakashi looked at Obito. Obito's mouth was slightly agape but it quickly closed when Kakashi made eye contact.

"I mean, like. As a teacher. As a team leader, you know?" said Asuma, his brows furrowed.

Kakashi realized that they had enough fish for everybody now. _Whaaaaat!! Fish? Urgh, Asuma!_

"Oh I like Minato-sensei. He's very skilled and he never let anything happen to us since we were genins." said Obito, settling his elbow on Kakashi's left shoulder. Kakashi wanted to thank Obito's unintentional (or was it?) diversions for it saved him from Asuma's creepy glare. Not wanting to be obvious, Kakashi answered too.

"Yeah, okay. I like him, as a team leader. Yeah, he's pretty good I guess."

"Exactly. I heard Dad wants to retire soon. He told me that he wants Namikaze-sensei to be Yondaime." said Asuma, sitting on the riverbank and counting the fish they caught. "We got four here. I'm starving."

_Yondaime?_

"Really? I hope that he becomes Hokage. He'll make a great one, for sure! And I'll bully him into giving me more missions.", said Obito.

"But... Does that mean that we won't get assigned to his team anymore? He won't do anymore missions on the field?" asked Kakashi.

"Yeah, he'll do paperworks and political stuff. It's a drag, being Hokage." said Asuma.

_Hokage... Namikaze Minato? Wait, wait wait wait! What?_

Kakashi heard their team leader calling them. Apparently, Minato had already caught some fish as well. He saw Rin and Kurenai looking happy at the sight of the fish.

_"I guess everyone is pretty hungry too."_

"Let's go. I can't wait to cook our food." said Obito, attempting to flatten his hair. He clapped Kakashi on the back and pushed slightly, indicating that Kakashi can go before him. Kakashi went on. He had this feeling that Obito knew. That somehow, he knew about him and his feelings for Minato, and the funny thing is that he didn't feel really bothered about it. He felt that Obito _understands_.

* * *

They finished eating their burnt lunch, thanks to Obito who quickly presented to use his fire-style jutsus before anyone could start a fire. Everyone didn't really enjoy their food, but they had no time to catch more so they had no choice to go on. They crossed yet another forest and a river, where Asuma dropped his entire packet of cigarettes.

Asuma uttered every swearword in existence in rapid succesion. He fumed and fumed, but not for long. Kurenai told him to suck it up and be a man, and that sobered him up. However, Asuma seemed more cheerful after that.

Along the way, Kakashi was totally unfocused. He let himself dawdle behind the rest, occasionaly looking forward to see his golden-haired _everything_.

_"Hokage? Will...will that be like a goodbye? I guess... He won't have time for us, for me when he accepts that offer. Yondaime Namikaze Minato... God, why do I feel so bothered? I don't want him to go.. I want him to be always here, 'cause he promised to!_

_..I don't know if this is true... But, I think I am in love._

Night had already set, the moon lighting their path to who-knows-where._  
_

Then, the voice he never tires to hear spoke.

"Tonight, we shall reach the first enemy base. Tonight, we shall attack."

Kakashi tried his hardest to forget about his dilemma even just for a while. He thought about the oncoming battle, and how Minato wanted everyone safe after the encounter.

..and of how he wanted Minato to be in his grasp. Forever.

* * *

_"'Cause I have, have fallen in love with you, no never_

_Oh, oh, I'm never gonna stop fallin' in love with you"_

_- Runaway by The Corrs_

_

* * *

_

**A/N: :D**

**Is Asuma's revelation true? If then, would Namikaze Minato accept? Is it too late for Kakashi to make his feelings noticed? How can he show his "love"? Does Kakashi know the difference between love and lust?**

**...**

**Another battle. How would Team Minato plus Asuma and Kurenai defeat their enemies? How does Rin fight "awesomely", as described by Obito?  
**

**Will Minato understand? Will Kakashi get his own happy ending?**

Well, you have to read on. And I have to write on. Oh yesss.

* * *

A late update. So sorry! Still have exams. Hope I'll pass them *crosses fingers*. Well, I really hope you like this chapter. If not, well, I'll make it up to you guys next time. And what's with the song lyrics? I don't know too. Haha, it just came to my mind and oh, I wanna type this one down. :D

Till the next chapter! D:


	9. Forest Floors, Closing Doors

The Rock base was in a forest clearing with no more than a small camp with three tents and a bonfire. Kakashi, somehow, expected more.

"This will be easy."

He crouched beneath the leaves and melded into the shadows.

Kakashi peeked cautiously around his hiding place. A few feet away were several Rock shinobi sitting in a circle around the roaring fire, whispering to themselves. Every few seconds or so, one of them would glance wearily over his shoulder. Kakashi was almost sure that they knew where they were hiding.

"They know they've got company."

He looked at one of the enemies who was quite unmoving. Kakashi recognized him as a Sensor, based on his lack of actions and the feeling of something swooping under his feet, signaling the detection of their chakra. So that must mean that they know Leaf ninjas are here. He pulled out a kunai and waited; he was ready to react anytime.

Minato's voice sounded too loud in the quiet forest as it rang through the earpiece of the Kakashi's walkie-talkie.

"Shall we attack now?" said Asuma, his voice slightly shaking with repressed excitement. The silver-haired ninja looked down to his left, where Asuma was crouching behind a thick-trunked tree not too far from where Rin and Kurenai were hiding.

"No. Not yet. Look sharp - !!!"

The Rock ninjas dispersed and made their way to their hiding places.

Instinctively, Kakashi jumped to the next tree. Lucky he did that, as a pointed pillar of rock came rising from the ground to where he sat waiting three seconds ago.

He ran towards the camp, to where there was light.

Up from the ground rose a stone wall, which Kakashi hit while fleeing to find an opening in his enemy's defense. As he saw his opponent rushing at him and performing hand seals, he also saw Rin advancing on another rogue ninja, senbons glinting in between her fingers.

Kakashi shifted his attention on his opponent, who was in a second, behind him.

He swung his kunai around to where his opponent's neck was, but missed. Kakashi winced as the shinobi's kunai grazed his left shoulder, opening a wound.

He kicked backward, and upon feeling it make contact with his enemy, turned around and threw shuriken. One hit the ninja on the leg, one on the arm and the others missed.

Everyone was on their own now, the most likely in danger being Kurenai and Namikaze-sensei for they were battling two on their own. Though everyone else had only one adversary, they were having a hard time taking them down too.

A distance away, the wounded enemy lay on the ground, stirring feebly. Kakashi left the ninja incapacitated, if not dead.

He made his way behind Rin's enemy, but was blocked on the way by Asuma and his enemy, the metal _clang_ of chakra blade on kunai knife distinctly audible over the din.

Kakashi ran forward when the path was cleared, hearing Obito shout something obscene from afar and the familiar sound of rushing flames that almost always accompanied his cursing.

He wondered for a fraction of a second if his other teammates were doing fine, but was quickly shaken out of his reverie when an exploding kunai went whirring past his face, missing him by an inch and detonating in the middle of Rin and her opponent.

Stopping on his tracks, he turned around to see his own enemy on his feet again.

Torn between defending Rin and commencing assault on his opponent, he decided that he'd get back to Rin when he _killed_ this Rock shinobi.

He let his elemental chakra flow on to the kunai he was holding, therefore infusing it with lightning. It crackled with electricity as he clashed with his enemy, but his blow was parried.

A couple of blows landed everywhere on Kakashi's body, and another slash on his back made him flinch but making his fury burn even more.

_"It ends here."_

A second's worth of loss of focus of his enemy was all Kakashi needed to make the kill.

His enemy thought that he had Kakashi down, but he thought wrong. He saw a blue and silver blur, felt a blade slash down his face to his throat and his eyesight became crimson, fading into eternal darkness.

Kakashi surveyed his kill briefly, then running back towards Rin, wiping blood from his kunai. He saw Asuma throwing aside the body of his now dead opponent, pulling the blades of its chest.

It seems that Obito had already finished his enemy off because he was now fighting with Minato. Obito's taijutsu have improved, judging by his accuracy and precision.

Even in life-threatening situations like this, Kakashi was scared that the Yellow Flash would get hurt _(as if ninjas of his caliber could be hurt by our present opponents..)_.

Kurenai was nowhere to be seen, but her cries of fury and pain can be heard from the dark forest. It would seem that her enemies pushed her into the trees, thinking that she was weak. If only they knew that she is one of the best genjutsu users in Konoha.

Kakashi had a sudden mental image of Kurenai amidst her opponents, laughing maniacally as they succumbed to her illusions.

He saw Asuma run into the trees, probably to Kurenai's aid.

Kakashi caught Rin's eye and she gave him a fierce look that seemed to say "Stay out of this one. He's mine."

He backed away a little, watching as Rin began to draw something from her sleeves.

More senbons came out, maybe hundreds of them, all bound to a thin string. Rin threw the senbons up in the air. Kakashi noticed that she had attached chakra strings to each senbon, manipulating them with little motions from her fingers.

Like a ninja uses a puppet as a weapon, Rin artfully spun on her spot and her hands were moving too.

Her opponent looked momentarily mesmerized by the swirling swarm of shining senbon needles before resuming his offensive approach to Rin.

"Ninja Art, Toxic Senbon Rain!"

Like rain, poisoned senbon came down onto the clueless enemy, striking him on every pore on his body. In no time at all, he screamed with agony. Then, his mouth frothed and his skin turned a nasty shade of blue. Then, as Rin moved to help Obito and Minato, the enemy moved no more.

----------

Inside the forest, Asuma ran in search of Kurenai. He frantically checked his surroundings for signs of Kurenai. He had no luck until he saw the genjutsu genius herself emerge from nowhere, smiling to herself and throwing aside a bloddied kunai.

A surprised _"Whoa."_ was all Asuma could say.

Kurenai smiled and hurried back to the Rock base, Asuma right on her tracks.

----------

Minato kicked the corpses of their enemies away from his feet.

"Good job.", he said as Asuma and Kurenai emerged from the forest.

Rin healed Kakashi's wounds. Apparently, only he and Kurenai were the only ones who were injured. Kakashi didn't mind the pain of the wounds. He was more terrified of the blood.

Blood, to Kakashi, is never a sign of good things.

He wanted peace, but it was elusive. Now, a boy must fight for that peace for it will bring serenity.

He just wanted to protect what's left to him now, _his friends and sensei._

He wished there will be no more blood, though he marked it impossible.

Blood will forever be splashed across the pages of history. That's why there were terms like, bloodshed and bloodlust. Blood is a sign of _evil_.

..and on blood was where Hatake Sakumo lay dead on _that_ night.

_"NO!"_

Kakashi pushed the thoughts away. He never wanted to remember that again.

Not now that he has his own battles to fight. It will be a hindrance, a weakness.

Not now that he must place duty and bravery over emotions and cowardice.

Not now. Just not now.

_*"sigh"*_

There in the tents, Minato searched for documents, information and the like that were most likely beneficial to Konoha's defensive efforts. He came back out in the dark (the fire being extinguished shortly before Asuma and Kurenai's return), placing some papers inside the pockets of his flak jacket.

Understanding that they had to get out of here as fast as they can, they followed Minato's lead once again into the dark, chilly and uncertain forest.

That's what Kakashi liked with being a ninja.

Sometimes, words were not needed. All they had to do was understand, and they need not to reply.

He thought he was sure of what he felt, but now, out of the blue, he was in doubt again.

_"Who-, what am I?"_

Kakashi thought about everything that matters.

Whenever he thinks about his future, Namikaze Minato was never out of the picture. Oh, he so wanted to spend every living breath with him...

But then there was his wife. And the people of Konoha. And Rin and Obito. He was afraid of what they would say if the Hatake heir was... liking men over women.

Hatake Kakashi was always the last person to give a shit about what people think of him, but now he felt utterly bothered.

Why does everything have some vague or concrete connection to Minato? Why do little things remind him of _something else_.

_"Stupid headache."_

His hand jumped to his temple, rubbing it there to ease the pain. He decided that for now, he won't care about anything else. Just the mission.

He had to make Minato-sensei feel **_it _**_later_. When the right time comes.

_"But...should I?"_

He caught Minato smiling at him, and tried not to smile back. Instead, he gave an indifferent nod.

It was one of those things that Kakashi liked in Minato. His ability to find something to smile about even in hard situations.

That always reminds Kakashi that there is always something to be happy for.

----------

He untied his hitai-ate, making his golden hair fall in front of his face in spiky bangs.

The battle went well, he thought. Not one serious injury.

...

.....

_... I think I'm going to miss these things._

He was relieved, that even in a little moment of time, he forgot that he had to make the choice to accept the offer as Yondaime Hokage soon. He forgot that he would indeed leave Obito, Rin and Kakashi. Not forever, but there will be no more Team Minato.

Blue eyes surveyed a silver-haired youth walking briskly beside him. He smiled, hoping to get one of that child's rare smiles. But now, Kakashi merely nodded at him.

_"He's exhausted."_

Namikaze Minato announced that they should get some rest upon reaching any suitable resting point, earning himself words of gratitude from his team.

He thought of pregnant Kushina and of other things, some of them trivial, some of them critical to his life.

He sighed, throwing his uncertainty to the wind and marching on through the leafy forest trail.

----------

_"I couldn't turn on the TV  
Without something there to remind me.  
Was it all that easy  
To just put aside your feelings?"_

_- Better in Time, Leona Lewis  
_

* * *

A/N: A little hurried, but there you are. Review? :D I'm not feeling well lately, so please bear with me. :) It might take some time for me to update (2 weeks is a long time already, so maybe in a week or so.) Thanks to all who accompanied Kakashi's and my journey into realms yet unknown to us both, and are still with us. It will get better, I promise. After all, it's YonKaka! *squeal*

It's called identity crisis.

_and the song lyrics? somehow, it has something similar to a situation in the chapter. I noticed it after writing every chapter, so maybe, I'll put song lyrics after every chapter...or NOT. :O_


	10. Rin's Mishap

The night went deeper when lights from a building came into the team's line of vision. Down the hill they walked, like zombies raised from their graves.

"Sensei, that may be an inn right there. Can we stay there for tonight? I'm itching all over from sleeping on the ground." mumbled Obito, bleary-eyed as he walked slowly alongside his companions.

"Yeahhh, let's go sleep on some nice, soft beds and..." said Asuma, stifling a yawn as Kurenai interrupted.

"..-And hot springs! Oooh, I hope there is a hot spring there! Urgh, my body hurts."

Kakashi pulled on the front of his shirt which was still wet and slightly smoking with Rin's medical concoctions. He was all sweaty and his body was covered in dust and grime and _God-knows-what-this-liquid-Rin-spilled-on-me._ He spat, some of the liquid had gotten onto his mask and into his mouth.

_"Bitter."_

He wanted to rest too, even for just tonight.

They reached the front of the well-lit building, and sure enough it was an inn. **Kougai Ryokan*** was written on a small sign above the open wooden gates.

"Uhmm, shall we go in?" asked Rin, her dark eyes lingering on the sign above the inn's gate.

"Yes, let us, sensei. Look, I'll pay my share for the rent when we get back home! I promise." said Obito, his eyes going all puppy-dog.

Minato sighed. He was tired and wishing for comfort as well.

"Okay, we're staying. I'll pay."

Kakashi, who was the closest to the gates, pushed them further to fully reveal a short, cobble-stoned path to the inn.

He walked slowly as the others passed him. He increased his walking speed, not wanting to be left alone, gingerly massaging his aching shoulder.

"Oh shit."

Kakashi looked over his shoulder when he heard Minato's husky voice behind him. Then, his sensei's rucksack fell to the ground, emitting a weird clanging noise. Minato laughed feebly as he stooped down to pick it up.

Kakashi and Minato were perfectly alone by the gates, as the others were already inside the inn. The silver-haired kid hesitated, but bent low too to help his sensei up (though he knew that Minato could manage on his own). They were under the moonlight. Kakashi can't help but stare at his sensei's face, at the face of his one true..._ What? What was Minato to me, really?_

"Thanks, Kakashi. Got light-headed for a while there." said Minato.

Kakashi's eyes flickered to his sensei's blue eyes. Again, he saw lips that were simply perfect. He quickly tried to avert his eyes by looking down at the ground. Well, he started to look down but his sight got focused on Minato's thighs and the areas around there. Kakashi felt something stir in his abdomen. Somehow, he wanted to see what lies beneath Minato's navy pants. Kakashi felt like the temperature of the cold night started to go higher and higher. He started to feel... a hard-on?

"Hey?"

Minato's voice brought Kakashi back to his senses. He too looked startled as he caught himself staring at his sensei _there_.

_"Gaahh, it won't go away!"_

Embarrassed, Kakashi turned his back on sensei in an attempt to shield his hardened-self from the eyes of Minato.

"It was nothing, sensei. Let's go." he said, and took off without hearing Minato's reply.

"Okay."

As Kakashi walked down the path, he noticed some shapeless rocks with writing on them. He read one.

"The past reveals what the future might bring." Another said, "He who hides desires to be sought."

Looking around, there were many stone block scattered around the place. Kakashi shrugged and made his way inside.

Kakashi went inside the bright room. The reception lobby was a tad shabby, but still quite nice. It had a warm, welcoming air about it that made it feel so... homey. Still, there were stone block carrying messages here and there.

A middle-aged woman stood behind a weathered wooden counter, talking to Kurenai in a calm voice. Kakashi hastened to go sit on one of the chairs lining the walls.

"Only two persons for every room?" asked Kurenai. "Can't we just share a single room?"

"I'm sorry, but no." said the lady. "We have to follow the policies, miss."

Kurenai turned to Minato, who had just gone through the door.

"Namikaze-sensei, you're gonna go broke tonight."

"Yeah, 650 Ryo for one room, and we have to get three rooms 'cause this lady here says only two people can go sleep in each room." said Obito, wondering if he used the word "room" too many times in one statement.

"Really? Oh well. I'd hazard a guess that you have hot springs here?" asked Minato, pulling out some cash and placing them on the counter. The lady deposited the money in a small box and started _staring _at Minato.

"Why, certainly. Lucky you, you are the only ones staying here for the night, so the springs are all yours to enjoy." said the lady, flashing a smile and twirling a finger around her hair while looking at Minato. "You could use them now, if you please."

"That would be good. Could you show us to our rooms before we go take our baths?" asked Minato, his voice unusually polite but subtle.

"Y-yes, sure!" said the lady. "This way."

She stood up and led the way down through a dark corridor. She flicked on the lights as they went down the hallway, eventually reaching a short hallway leading to an open area with two small wooden gates separated by a tall wall. The air was warm and inviting.

"Boys here, and girls there. Mind you close the gates after going in." the lady said, pointing first to the gate on the left, then to the right as they continued walking. "Now to the rooms."

A little walk further down the hall brought them to their rooms. Now that Kakashi thought about it, the whole place has no decoration whatsoever, just scrolls and frames bearing quotes like "Mischief does not go unpunished." and "If it is true, it will never die." They were very alike to the stone block outside the inn, each carrying weird sayings.

"Well, here we are. You can occupy any room that you like, but just three." said the lady, this time positively fluttering her lashes at Minato.

"Thank you." replied Minato, giving her a smile that made the woman smile back.

Kakashi shivered.

The lady left them on their own as Minato started to decide who would be paired to share the same room.

"Rin and Kurenai. Asuma and Obito. Kakashi and me."

The team didn't argue about the pairings. Well, not Kakashi. Inwardly, he didn't really like the prospect of him and sensei in one room. Alone. To sleep. In the dark. _Just the two of them_.

But Kakashi kept his mouth shut as the others entered their respective rooms. He went inside the room.

There were two small beds inside, a window with a view of the inn gate, a shelf and a small table. Kakashi saw Minato enter a door which he presumed to lead to the bathroom, for he caught a glimpse of a showerhead before his sensei closed the door.

Kakashi sat on the bed and put his things on it.

"Okay, what to do…"

They were going to go to the spring after this. Now that's comfort.

Kakashi took off his vest and weapons holster. Kunai and shuriken banged together inside the pouch as he threw them on the pillows. He removed his footwear and replaced them with soft slippers he found beside the door. He slipped off his forehead protector, laying it beside his vest. Both vest and hitai-ate were dirty, but because they were leaving as soon as they wake up the next day, Kakashi decided that they had to wait before they were washed clean. Same goes for his shirt.

He made to take off his shirt when Minato came out of the bathroom. Kakashi paused in the act of taking off his clothes with the hole for the head halfway up his neck. His body tingled, he could almost feel Minato looking at his body. Kakashi pulled his shirt all the way off and threw it aside.

"I'll wait for you on the hallway." said Minato.

Kakashi looked at the man standing a small distance away from him. Minato was wearing a white, untied bathrobe over his black shorts.

Minato put his old clothes on the other bed, piling them neatly. He, too, took of his hitai-ate and started walking towards the door.

Kakashi could feel his cheeks burning, and he could feel _other things _heating up too. He gave no notice to a framed expanse of white paper saying "Some things are not meant to be.".

"Y-yes." was all he could reply.

Minato went out of the room, followed by a dull thud and the sound of a closing door from outside.

"Obito!"

"But, but sensei! I was just gonna tell them to hurry up 'cause we're going to the hot springs already!"

"Still, that's rude. What if they were changing clothes?" said Minato, his voice sounding stern.

"But I didn't see anything! All I saw was Rin's hand before she pushed me back."

"Hn. Be glad that was all she did to you." said Asuma, chuckling as he said it.

"Sorry Rin, Kurenai!" said Obito.

A moment's silence, as if the girls were thinking what to reply.

"Whatever." came Rin and Kurenai's voice. Obito whimpered.

Kakashi went inside the bathroom and found white towels and another bathrobe on a rack by the mirror above the sink. He looked at his reflection. He was going to bathe in a hot spring with his mask on. His mask was reeking of Rin's medicine. He couldn't take it off now. Not just yet.

_"I'd wash it before going to sleep."_

He stripped off his clothes and put on a pair of black shorts he found lying beneath the towels and threw the bathrobe around him. He kept his head cool and free of panic. Why was he panicking in the first place? They'll just take a dip in the hot springs, that's all. It's just a bit of steam and sulfur.

Kakashi heaved a sigh to clear his thoughts and made his way to the door.

On the hallway stood Minato, Asuma and Obito, all clad in similar bathrobes. The moment Kakashi went out to the corridor, Obito and Asuma stared at him. It was quite unnerving.

"Uhh, let's go?" said Kakashi sheepishly.

Minato was smiling at him. "Okay. We're going now!" shouted Minato in the direction of the girls' room.

Minato back towards the hot springs, followed closely by Obito, Kakashi and Asuma.

Kakashi tried to keep his eyes to himself all the way to the gates of the hot springs. They took of their bathrobes and placed them on a shelf near the doors. He made to follow Asuma who was the first to reach the gate. He heard Obito sniggering before the whole place was shrouded in thick, white smoke.

"Henge no Jutsu!"

Kakashi didn't even need to **think** about what was happening.

"What the flying fuck, Obito!" screamed Asuma.

Obito transformed himself into a… scantily-clad, well-endowed woman.

Kakashi, wide-eyed, jumped into the hotspring at once, closely followed by Minato, who was saying "Transform back, Obito!" while laughing heartily.

Another puff of smoke, and Obito settled down on the warm water.

"What a transformation, Obito. Maybe you're better off as a girl!" said Kurenai's voice from the other side of the wooden wall. The girls have apparently gone there and saw Obito's transformation technique. Kakashi heard Rin sighing, then the sound of splashing water.

The spring wasn't all that big. Kakashi measured it by sight to be about 10 meters in diameter. Still, there was room to move about.

Kakashi had barely reclined his head onto the stone edges of the spring when Minato asked him something.

"Aren't you taking off your mask, Kakashi?"

Minato brushed his shoulder on Kakashi's. Kakashi's brows furrowed. He opened his eyes, feeling as if electricity had rushed throughout his body at the contact with his sensei.

Asuma and Obito were on Kakashi's left side, both giving sighs induced by the warm water. Minato was chest-deep in the water as he sat beside Kakashi.

The Yellow Flash's eyes were at level with his. Kakashi's pulse quickened. Things were running fast on Kakashi's mind. Suddenly, he was intoxicated with…desire?

**_"Gods."_**

He answered.

"No."

On the other side of the wall, Rin was getting jumpy as she soaked herself in the hot water.

_"I do hope that the potion I spilled on Kakashi wouldn't have a strong effect."_

Rin visualized the precautions for the truth potion she brought for the mission. It was supposed to be used for interrogation. Like some potions, it has side effects. This, as the name suggests, was a potion to make the drinker tell the truth when asked with a question. Unfortunately, its side effects when taken are body weakness and increased sexual desire.

A drop would suffice for it to take effect. Plus, it does not have to be taken through the mouth. It could be absorbed through the skin pores, and it would work.

Rin started massaging her arms, hoping that the truth potion wouldn't manifest in full maximum effect.

_"Damn, why did I have to trip on that stupid tree root when I opened my medicine bag!"_

The moon was directly over Rin.

She heaved a deep, heavy sigh.

* * *

* - translates to Revelation Inn. Heyy, I just used an online translator for that. Don't bite me if I got the translation wrong ;)

A/N: *squeal**faint*. okay, I am still out of my comfort zone. 'Tis my first time writing a multi-chaptered story. Review if you would please.


	11. The Ordeal

An excruciatingly long half-hour passed.

Kakashi pretended to close his eyes, but he kept it open by a millimeter to look at Minato, at his face, at his body.

Kakashi couldn't stop looking at the scars on Minato's body. Oh, how he wanted to touch. To taste Minato. To feel his muscles on his fingertips.

He was further drowned in desire. He was almost losing all control.

"This is bad."

The girls' side was peaceful, only little splashes could be heard from Rin and Kurenai. Sadly, the same couldn't be said for the men.

Not happy with the reaction he got for his first henge, Obito performed the technique once again. Unfortunately, Asuma noticed what he was about to do before it was too late. Asuma threw a rock straight into Obito's face. Obito evaded the rock, laughing at Asuma for missing him, but it rebounded on the wall behind him hitting him on the back of the head instead.

That seemed to sober him up.

More minutes flew by as Asuma smirked meanly at Obito, and Obito was just glaring at him unable to do anything because Minato was there.

Minato was known to be a generally kind-hearted man, but when you do something wrong in front of him, that's a different story.

"Sensei, can I not call you 'sensei' anymore?"

Minato, who was spacing out, shook his head slightly and looked at the Uchiha.

"Well, yeah. We're both jounin now, after all." he said, grinning at Obito.

"Yeah okay, Minato. Hey Minato! How about Hokage-sama?" said Obito, winking.

Minato's smile faltered, but he still tried to keep it on his face.

"Not... yet."

That seemed to make Minato uncomfortable. He stood up (Kakashi had to look away as the whole, wet body of the Yellow Flash rose from the water beside him) and said,

"Five more minutes, and let's go get some sleep."

"Hai, Minato"

"Sure thing." said Kurenai from the other side.

Kakashi jumped out of the water, mumbling "I'll go now.". He sprinted to the exit, splashing water all over the place. He grabbed his robe and put on his slippers.

Into the hallway he went, still dripping with water. He hurriedly put on his own robe, not bothering to check whose robe he grabbed. Kakashi marched along the hallway, his eyes cast down on the polished, wooden floor. He was having a hard time keeping his hands to himself back there.

Minato wasn't even doing anything that... arousing to him, but he was feeling so incredibly hot.

Kakashi entered their room, and quickly he tried to get fresh clothes from his bag. He pulled out a black shirt, and lay it on the bed. He put on his dirty pants, not even heeding that it was, well, dirty.

Ten minutes passed, and he found it hard not to act all jumpy when he heard footsteps growing louder and louder, intermingled with the bickering voices of Asuma and Obito.

"Knucklehead."

"Monkeyface."

"Oh very mature, you two." groaned Kurenai.

He saw a little shelf lined with bottles of wine, beer and other alcoholic drinks. Quickly, he grabbed one of the bottles opened it, hurriedly gulping mouthfuls. What and why he was doing it, he didn't really care. He just wanted a distraction.

"Burns, but tastes pretty good."

Kakashi drank some more, relishing the stinging taste the drink brought. The silver-haired ninja liked it. He didn't even bother to look at the label of what he was drinking.

All he cared was that it made him feel better. He continued drinking whatever it was he was drinking.

He sensed his teammates' chakra outside the door. Pushing the empty bottle under Minato's bed, he silently crawled into his own bed and hid under the covers before Minato could turn the light. He shut his eyes tight.

He was definitely not losing self-control tonight.

He heard Minato's bed creak, signaling that his incredibly sexy ("What?!" Kakashi thought.) sensei sat on it.

"Ahhh.."

Kakashi's grey eyes opened. "Why is he moaning?"

Images of Minato doing things that might make him moan raced through Kakashi's mind.

"Shit, I should've stayed away from Icha Icha Turnover!"

Hatake Kakashi bit his tongue to deter his unrightful thoughts. He raised the blanket to take a peek at Minato.

Minato was rubbing his left arm. Kakashi figured that it must be aching, and when Minato massaged it, it felt better, hence, the moan.

Kakashi rolled over and tried to keep quiet.

_"You are not like this Kakashi. No, not this." _he said to himself.

Kakashi reached to feel himself down there. Still, it was there.

He had never had lusty fantasies for his sensei. Not until now. His hardness was unrelenting, painful even. He had tried to suppress it since arriving at this inn.

The alcohol brought the Hatake a painful dizziness. His head was also starting to ache. Everything seemed to happen so fast, but he felt so sluggish.

"Anything wrong, Kakashi?"

A second's worth of hesitation, and –

"Yes."

Kakashi figured that it would be best to be honest (_"And maybe he'd go and comfort me." thought Kakashi, his ideas of "comfort" far from it's original sense) _and not let Minato worry.

"What is it?" asked Minato, his voice laced with concern.

Kakashi stood up and walked towards the bathroom door. He went inside, barely noticing his shirtless sensei standing up and following him before he closed the door.

"I think I am sick." he said.

He took his mask off and splashed some cold water on his face, hoping it would make him feel better, but it did not.

He opened the door and collapsed on top of his concerned sensei, hitting the tableside lamp. The lamp shattered loudly into pieces.

Kakashi, still maskless, was face-to-face with Minato. He could make out every detail of the Yellow Flash's face right there and then. The blonde had a look of surprise on his face, because he could feel Kakashi's hard-on somewhere near his thighs.

Time seemed to stand still as their gazes stood transfixed.

Kakashi, for so long, waited for a moment to let his feelings known. Now fate has pressed it into his own hands. He remembered the fake smiles he gave to everyone, Minato included. He faked those smiles to make them think that he was okay, to confuse them into thinking that the Hatake heir was feeling as every kid his age should feel. Under those lies a different kind of sadness. A gaping hole that no one dared to fill.

Now, looking down at his sensei, he realized that he shouldn't have waited for someone to come and save him from the emptiness and from himself. It is time he did it himself.

Now he smiled, and it was true.

He knew it was wrong, but he couldn't stop.

Kakashi tightened his grip on Minato's arms(but failed, as he was feeling very weak), as he approached slowly to kiss those soft lips he dreamed of for so long.

"Kakashi! What is the meaning of this?" said Minato, as he held Kakashi on the shoulders, preventing him from coming closer.

"I lo—…"

But then, Kakashi heard the door open with a crash, and Rin's voice saying something incomprehensible for his alcohol-impaired hearing. He felt something sting him between his shoulder blades, and he blacked out.

**********

Rin was already fully-dressed and laying on her bed, thinking of her truth potion blunder when she heard a crash from the next room.

She stood up, casting a look on the bathroom where Kurenai was brushing her hair. Silently, she trod out of the room. Praying to the gods that Kakashi didn't do anything the effects and side-effects of the medicine might have induced.

A loud crash rang through her ears as she approached the door. Her heart pounding fast, she opened the door and found an unmasked Kakashi on top of a bewildered Minato. Rin was momentarily amazed by the face of Kakashi; it was the first time she ever saw him without his mask. Quickly regaining her focus, she jumped onto the bed nearest the door and shouted,

"No! Sensei, it's not Kakashi's fault!"

Being the well-prepared kunoichi she is, Rin drew a senbon from her sleeve and threw it with pinpoint accuracy on Kakashi's back.

Kakashi collapsed as the senbon did its job to stun him.

Minato heaved the unconscious Kakashi up to the second bed as a bottle of gin rolled out from under it. Minato caught a whiff of Kakashi's slow breaths, and it smelled the same as the liquid from the empty bottle.

"Kakashi drunk this all by himself?" he said, utterly shocked.

He looked at Rin, her face now white with disbelief and possibly fear.

"Sensei, it's not his fault. It's mine. I can explain."

* * *

A/N: Sorry if it's a bit short and kinda hurried. I had to get this done, checked for errors and posted before I go to my dormitory. Forgive me for any errors left uncorrected, and for this chapter's shortness. But I think I got the message across. Anyway, I will start living by myself now. My parents will be taking me to the dorm now. So yeah. I can update weekly, at most. I hope I can survive alone. ;)

...and. Kakashi! Minato! Rin! (What? XD) Reviews are love. It would help me keep going at this. *grin


	12. Waking Up

Kakashi slowly opened his eyes.

Rin and Minato were talking beside the bed where he lay.

He tried to listen to what they were saying, but all he could hear were slurred sounds.

His mind too feeble to have the will to stay awake, Kakashi drifted again to peaceful slumber.

* * *

A short update to say that I AM BACK. woo! X3 Sorry if I had been MIA for the past six(???) months. My personal life got messed up but so much for that. Here I am, poised to strike! (What?!) R&R!


	13. Out with It

"Rin."

Kakashi called out for the kunoichi with his eyes closed. He took a deep breath, letting the air fill his needy lungs.

"Rin is not here."

What he heard wasn't Rin's voice. Kakashi opened his eyes and looked sideways where Minato sat at the foot of his bed.

"You should get up, Kakashi." said Minato. "We're leaving soon."

Kakashi tried to block out the things that happened before he fell asleep. By the way Minato was not looking at him, it seems that his sensei was doing the same thing.

He felt ashamed. He felt dirty, guilty. Kakashi sat up, took his mask from the bedside table and heaved a silent sigh.

The young shinobi felt a tiny sting on his back.

"Does it hurt?" said Minato, taking Kakashi by surprise. Still, the blonde won't look at Kakashi.

"What?" said Kakashi, caught unaware by the sudden question. "You mean the senbon?"

_"Of course he means the senbon." said Kakashi to himself.  
_

"Uh-huh."

Minato stood up and went by the window. He drew the curtains to let sunlight enter the room.

"A bit."

For a second, Minato was illuminated by the morning sunlight. Kakashi couldn't help but stare, but he looked away before Minato turned around to look at him.

"Are you still bothered by what happened last night, Kakashi?" said Minato, finally looking at the younger ninja.

Kakashi bit his lip. There is no way that he can wriggle out of this one now, he had to confess that--...

"Rin told me that she spilled some of her potions on you by accident. So don't be bothered anymore." said Minato, finally cracking a smile. "It isn't your fault. It's no one's fault.

Kakashi still couldn't look at the man in front of him. He felt a lump rise in his throat that has nothing to do with being bothered.

"Why though?" said Minato. "It was truth potion, she told me."

Kakashi looked up abruptly.

"So.. is it true?" asked Minato, sitting down in front of Kakashi. "Do you, uhmm, like me that way?"

Why and how, Kakashi didn't know. But those simple words seemed to pierce his heart, his being. It hurt him, not even knowing the reason why it felt that way.

He felt cold. He felt shivers crawling around his entire body.

It made him sick.

"Yes." said Kakashi, spitting the word out as fast as he can.

If Minato was surprised with his answer, Kakashi didn't notice. He didn't even raise a brow or widen his eyes.

He just sat there, close to Kakashi (maybe too close), breathing slowly. Minato seemed to be considering his thoughts as he stared blankly down at the floor.

The seconds seemed to stretch into ages as the two of them sat there, waiting for the other to speak. The silence which hung over them was the kind that makes you want to scream out. The kind which makes you feel so alone so much that you just want to shout and see if anyone is still with you.

"Why?" whispered Minato, looking at Kakashi directly in the eye.

_How did the man dare to ask him why? Shouldn't he have known it himself? It's all about him, after all._

"Why?" repeated Kakashi.

Well, he better give a straight answer.

The silver-haired jounin reached for the golden-haired man's face. Lucky, the older shinobi didn't resist.

Kakashi didn't plan this, but what the heck.

He kissed him, because he loved him for all he is. For all he was, and for all that he'll ever be.

That's why.

* * *

A/N: Summer's here and I want to go swimming. :) THERE! done and done. wait for the next chapter, would ya?RR, 3.


	14. Sorry

The teenager held on to Minato's arms, never wanting to let go.

But Kakashi's chaste kiss was cut short.

Minato planted his palms on the younger shinobi's chest and pushed him away. It wasn't too forceful, but it was strong enough to break them apart. The older man stood up.

Hatake Kakashi stared at Namikaze Minato as the latter hung his head, turned his back and made his way towards the door.

Startled by Minato's apparent rejection, the silver-haired jounin stood up and made to follow the man he gave his first kiss to.

"Stay." said the blonde ninja, turning the doorknob.

Kakashi stopped walking, only a hair's breadth away from Minato. Uncertainly, he grabbed his former sensei around the torso and buried his face on the back of Minato's vest but even those desperate gestures were rejected. Minato slowly but firmly brushed Kakashi's arms off from his waist and went out of the room, not bothering to look back at the young masked ninja.

Kakashi made no more attempts to follow.

He made his way back to his bed. He sat and stared blankly at the back of his hands which he kept over his lap as he sat there, the morning still as bright, unaware and unconcerned about one silver-haired ninja's confusion.

It's as if he was lost in a dream. One minute, everything was going fine and the next, he was shunned aside.

Kakashi closed his eyes, holding back tears. He won't forgive himself if he'd let them cascade down his face.

He clearly saw Minato's face in his mind's eye. The furrowed brows. The strained face. The eyes which refused to look at him.

_"Fuck this."_

Kakashi buried his face into the palms of his hands as he resisted the urge to curse anything and everything. Shaking because of unexplained feelings congesting inside him, he walked towards the open window. He looked out and wrapped his arms around himself.

In times like these, men must not show vulnerability.

The anguished and confused young man punched the wall, trying to let go of all the tension through that single blow.

He thought that he had it all figured out. That he was prepared to devote all he could to Minato, even though he knew that the man he loved couldn't return his unconditional devotion.

But damn, it hurt. The idea as a theory felt way better.

Now, looking back as he tasted the backlash of his wrong love, he should have thought it over for a longer time.

_"It is never right for a man to love another man."_

Those were words Kakashi read in some book about religion. Even though shinobi do not have an official religion, they still acknowledge a God who created everything. It was written in that scripture that those words came from God himself.

For quite a while now, Kakashi was still mulling the meaning of that in his mind.

Certainly, he hadn't wanted to be attracted to the same gender. The idea still repulsed him. But when it comes to Minato, his resolution fades.

As they would say, Kakashi is still in the stage of denial and confusion.

He let go of the invisible shackles binding his emotions and set them free in an unrelenting flood of tears.

He hated himself for crying.

Kakashi turned to pack his things up, deciding that moping would only bother their mission's schedule. He turned sideways to go to the bathroom to get himself together, hopefully to hide the fact that he was shattered.

But someone was at the door.

Surprised and ashamed, he wiped the tears from his cheeks as he looked at Uchiha Obito. The brown-haired shinobi looked startled, his mouth slightly agape as he peered from around the door.

Well, somebody forgot to close the door.

Kakashi felt blood rising up to his face.

_"The Uchiha idiot can't see me like this! Shit!"_

In spite of that, he stood rooted to the spot. Kakashi tried his best to avert his eyes from Obito. The situation really, really was awkward.

Slowly, as if calculating his steps, Obito walked silently to Kakashi.

"Kakashi?"

He closed the door behind him and stood in front of his teammate.

"What?" said Kakashi, looking at Obito, his voice broken.

"Nothing." said Obito quickly as he saw Kakashi's gray eyes.

Obito sat on the bed, smoothing the covers and looking around the room. He noticed a small crack on the wall where he saw Kakashi punch it.

"Hey, wanna sit?" offered Obito, cautious in picking his words.

It was peculiar, but Kakashi did not make any objections.

* * *

Kakashi sat there, his ears ringing from the silence as Obito and himself were sitting shoulder to shoulder.

The smirk Obito almost always wore was gone from his face now, which was replaced by a look of sincerity.

Few words were spoken between them but Kakashi, who was supposed to be sad, started feeling somehow better without really knowing why.

* * *

"Uhmm, so..." started Obito.

He looked at the silver-haired ninja and treated himself to a sight he thought that he'd never see.

Hatake Kakashi was crying into his hands. He was sobbing silently, teeth bared in a sick kind of grimace.

Obito tried to keep it cool, but in that moment he just wanted to do something to make Kakashi stop crying.

"Don't tell anyone, or... or else." said Kakashi, his effort to keep his voice from quivering distinct.

"Yeah, s-sure." said Obito, trying to smile at his friend. "You stay here and... and straighten up. I'll wait outside."

Kakashi gave a quick nod of comprehension.

He stood up, gave Kakashi a quick pat on the back and went out of the room.

Obito went off to have a talk with a certain yellow-haired someone.

* * *

The team assembled outside the inn. Obito and Minato were the last to go out of the inn, citing "bathroom emergencies" as the reason.

"Mmm, yeah. Whatever." grumbled Asuma, tired from waiting.

Meanwhile, Kakashi was not trying hard to hide the fact that his eyes were kinda bloodshot. When Kurenai asked, he just said "Something got in my eye". He, too was feeling very awkward. Rin and Obito now knew, so is it possible that Asuma and Kurenai also knew that--..?

"Uhh..."

Kakashi looked sideways and saw Rin.

Rin was looking nervously at him all the while, apparently bursting to say something. She opened her mouth but was cut short when Namikaze Minato spoke.

"So, okay. Off we go." said Minato to the group and his eyes landed on Kakashi.

Kakashi couldn't look at the man so he hurriedly looked down and pretended to be quite interested in the scratches on the metal plate attached to his gloves.

However, the look Minato gave him was much, much warmer than the one he gave to Kakashi before leaving him alone in the bedroom.

_That man.. the man who will become Yondaime.._

Kakashi chased the thoughts away to keep focus at the mission at hand.

Without notice, Minato started walking, then ran towards the woods. Kurenai, Rin and Asuma followed, leaving Obito and Kakashi.

The pair followed, jumping up to tree branches after their teammates.

Rin slowed down to draw level with Kakashi. The silver-haired jounin kept his eyes set forward, trying to ignore the kunoichi.

But Rin, who was very pale right now started speaking.

"Kakashi... I... I am sorry." she said, talking very fast. "I never meant to see, I mean. I just thought--. It was all my fault! I-I'm sorry, Kakashi!"

Kakashi looked at her hazel eyes. He never blamed Rin for the accident, no. The thought didn't even cross his mind.

He took the risk, but it seems that that risk was better left alone.

It was all his fault.

He looked at Rin and kept his voice straight. He smiled, hoping that it would show behind his mask.

_"Smile like you mean it, Kakashi."_

"It's alright, Rin." he said.

Rin appeared slightly surprised as she saw Kakashi's eyes curving happily.

Kakashi act of feigning a smile and lying about how he really felt seemed to have her convinced.

Smiling back, she nodded and sped up to return to the front beside Kurenai.

The cold air was upon their backs. Looking up at the clear sky, the last Hatake wished that the air would carry his problems away, but that was impossible. Those things only happen in fairy tales. Like happily ever-afters and finding true love.

His chest felt heavy once again. Kakashi felt angry at himself for being overcome with a feeling of unease and uncertainty. Throw in a dash of chagrin, too. Well, Hakuna Matata, whatever. Come what may, Kakashi tried not to think about what could happen next.

"I am sorry, too." whispered Kakashi to the wind, dropping his fake smile.

He pulled out a kunai, not exactly knowing why. Obito looked at him but quickly diverted his attention to his own kunai pouch.

Hatake Kakashi just wished that he could fight the things which bothered him with his skills at taijutsu and ninjutsu.

But the darn things he wished to fight were the kinds of things that will haunt you for a long time. Those were the things that will only chase after you even if you run away from them.

Being a ninja doesn't save you from complex human emotions.

* * *

A/N: The line breaks symbolize a change in POV. :) Thanks to the people who find time to review this story. I really, really appreciate it. It keeps me going. Thank you! I want to make this story longer, so I hope that you all will still be with me until the end.

...and I can't wait for the new chapters of Katekyo Hitman Reborn, Naruto and Fullmetal alchemist.

If you spot errors of any kind, feel free to message me. teehee, I am too lazy and tired to check spellings and grammars and stuff. So yeah, if ever you notice..

"To the extreme!" - Sasagawa Ryohei. ;)


	15. Better

They reached the area where the next enemy base supposedly was, but it wasn't enemies they saw.

Standing in the clearing was Maito Gai in all his extreme, youthful _(Kakashi rolled his eyes)_ glory surrounded by Anko, Genma and a Hyuuga adult whose name slipped Kakashi's mind. Plus, there were people lying unconscious (_dead?_) all around them. Three ninjas were tied up in front of the Hyuuga, apparently captured.

"Finally, you arrived, my fantastic colleagues!"

The place was completely in chaos. Kakashi looked around and felt no other hostile chakras around them.

He really wasn't listening to the Hyuuga's and Minato's lengthy conversation, as his ears were being bombarded by Gai's irritating voice.

"What do you say, my eternal rival? The Hokage ordered us to attack as many bases as we can. Eh, what can I say? Me and my graciously high-stamina-blessed team have already done the job! I am sorry, Hatake-san but it seems that our job, as well as yours, is done!"

The irritated silver-haired jounin turned his evil eyes on Gai, and that seemed to sober him up.

Obito, Asuma and the others were standing idly, waiting for commands. In the distance, Anko seemed thoroughly in a bad mood.

Minato beckoned for them to come closer, and the teenagers followed.

"Okay, so now our duty is done." he said, smiling. "Saved us trouble, they did."

"Yeah, I wanna go home too--.." said Obito, but was cut short by an outburst of..

"Yes we did, oh how I wish how you have seen how _extravagant _and _majestic_ I was. Me, the most youthful--!", said Gai.

"Shut the hell up already!" said Anko, covering her ears with her hands.

"Ah, I am sorry, my short-tempered beautiful flower of destruction..."

"_Beautiful flower of destruction?! Shut your fucking trap already, you great, horrible,** youthful** ass--!"_

"All we have to do is to go back to Konoha and enjoy the season!" said Minato as fast as he could, and he went off to stop Anko from murdering Gai.

Kakashi watched as Minato finally caught up with Anko, and how she feigned losing consciousness to fall into the blonde's arms.

He punched Obito on the arm and walked away.

Obito knowingly looked on as Kakashi retreated a little distance away. Finally, he followed.

"What is it?" he said, grabbing Kakashi's shoulder.

"Nothing really." said Kakashi, eyes downcast. "You know what happened lately.."

"Oh, that."

"Help me." said the masked ninja, looking at Obito full in the eyes. "I want to get away from.. from it."

The Uchiha didn't pry out any details. He just closed his eyes, nodded and said "Sure."

Kakashi made his way back to the huddled group, and passed by Obito.

"Just make sure you won't fall for me." whispered Obito, sniggering.

Another lightning-fast punch to the arm, then he found himself looking into the depths of Kakashi's angry eyes.

"I won't." whispered Kakashi. "And if you would say anything about _it_, I will be the one to silence you."

"It was a joke!" said Obito, rubbing his arm.

Kakashi looked over his shoulder and positively smiled at Obito.

"I know."

They were friends, after all.

* * *

And so all was said and done. Anko didn't kill Gai. Gai kept quiet during the short trip back to Konoha. Minato still isn't talking directly to Kakashi, or anyone else for that matter.

But there is only one way to go.

Kakashi has to move on.

He tried his best to think that Minato wasn't worth it all the while.

Is he feeling bitter?

No.

He should feel better.

* * *

A/N: Sorry if it was kinda short, but when I tried expanding this chapter, it didn't feel right. Whatever. They are going back to Konoha! Yay! So.. what will become of our Kakashi and the future Yondaime? Will there ever be a happy ending? IDK! X3 Thanks for the people who review this story. Reading your reviews really gives me a jolt, like coffee on a cold morning (what did I just say?) Anyway, you could also read my Fullmetal Alchemist fics if you are into HavocxFuery.

Well, till next chapter. -LR


	16. Please?

A/N: Kakashi's POV. :)

* * *

So, I have watched him from afar, drifting from what I really felt and from what I should feel.

I don't know why, but I tried my best to stay away from him. Maybe because I was afraid.

Afraid to get closer.

Because maybe, when I once again close the gap between us...

I was afraid to fall alone.

We rarely talked, though in the early stages of my emotional recovery, I was frequently pushed to the brink of wanting to talk to him.

But I shouldn't. This will be for the best.

Obito had been there for me, reassuring me that that man does not deserve my love.

I felt this horrible, icy pang of regret shooting across my heart but I refused to gave in.

This is for my own good, Obito would always tell me.

And so I lived my life a safe distance away from him.

Though sometimes fate would make our paths cross, I made sure that I won't ever, _ever again_...

So he became Yondaime Hokage without really trying at all.

I busied myself with regular and ANBU missions.

His son, Naruto, finally came to this world.

I was a bit jealous, because he had always been the father I looked up to...

...before he gradually became the person who I desired the most.

I felt that the bonds we shared was severed. I made it that way.

He's better off with his family. With his son and wife.

Everything was going on fine.

I was doing well.

He was doing great.

I surrounded myself with people. I felt happy.

Happy because there were people who considered my worth.

News about you would occasionally reach me. Things about how you made improvements to the Leaf and about your overall kindness and greatness.

You know, typical things that I knew always lay there inside you.

I have even considered asking Anko out. Or Kurenai.

But it didn't feel right.

I didn't do things half-heartedly.

So there came a time when I had to leave for a mission.

A long, tiresome mission which required me to go far from Konoha.

I had to face you for the mission briefing.

It was the first time for over a year that I came face-to-face with you again.

I noticed that you looked tired, but still you were smiling.

It was amazing how I was unaffected.

I am taking this mission as an ANBU member, so I just listened to you.

You sent my team out with a wish of good luck.

Secretly, deep within my heart, I wished you good luck too.

Stay strong, Minato.

Konoha needs you, Yondaime.

And so we set out.

And came back.

However, the Konoha I left wasn't the same when I came back.

More importantly, you weren't the same man I knew.

The Kyuubi, that monster, came and destroyed half of the Hidden Leaf.

With him, he took dreams and lives.

I saw my friends, thankfully alive. I asked them what happened.

I asked them about you.

It seems that you fought the monster bravely.

Unfortunately, the Kyuubi took Kushina's life.

But luckily, you were alive. Barely hanging on, but still alive.

Your son didn't die too.

You sealed the Kyuubi inside him.

I hoped that you made the right move, Hokage-sama.

...

I know that I had promised to never come back to _you _ever again.

But as I watched here, a safe distance away from you...

I felt like going to your side and urging you to keep going on.

The smile was lost from your lips. Your eyes spoke of grief. Even as you looked at your son, I would sense that you really weren't happy.

Because you lost somebody you loved.

...and roughly, I know how that feels.

Yeah, from that moment on..

Gah, I don't know... I'm not sure about myself, even.

Well, maybe it's true.

When you loved a person...

When you truly, honestly loved a person...

There will always be a trace of that love in your heart, be it ten, twenty, or a hundred years.

.

.

.

I promised that I won't be the same stupid kid I was.

I promised that I won't love for the wrong reasons.

But... You...

What the heck.

Let me back into your life.

I want to see you smiling again.

Would you let me?

Please?

* * *

A/N: Time skip no jutsu! Sorry, but this is the only way to keep the story running. Review, if you would, please? I'll take suggestions and stuff to improve your reading experience.

Yeah, I killed Kushina. Naruto and Daddy is still alive. Obito and Rin are alive. Why? Because I want them to.

...and, I feel so...angst-y-ish lately. I wrote this story from the heart...I hope you all like it.

And okay, I'll stop blabbing now.

So.. till next chapter.

-LEON.R.


	17. Beginnings

A/N: I'm writing from Kakashi's point-of-view. Okay? Okay.

* * *

"Well, hello Kakashi."

Now I've gone and done it.

I rang his doorbell and was looking sideways, thinking if I should be doing this, when he opened his door.

His eyes showed a hint of surprise, widening by just a little bit when he laid eyes on me.

He was wearing a baggy long-sleeved shirt and a pair of navy blue pants.

Minato was carrying his son, Naruto in one arm.

I don't know if this is the best time for me to come here.

"Errm, good evening Yondai-, I mean, Minato."

_Now or never, Kakashi._

With the courage I hastily gathered in a short while, I looked at him straight in the eye.

Like I used to.

"Is this a bad time...?"

He gave a small chuckle and took me by the shoulder. Minato pulled me inside his house, and I didn't object.

"No, it's fine, really. Come in!"

I felt just like how we were before _the incident_ (you know, the time I actually kissed...him.)

I was happy, confused and skeptic at the same time.

I was happy because, well, he treats me like a long-time friend.

Confused 'cause the last time we were alone, I know he hated me. Now, this...

And skeptic. I'll leave it at that.

...so the night-long conversation started.

* * *

I was sitting on an armchair, trying hard no to look around too much.

"What brings you here, Kakashi?", said Minato as he shifted papers on the low coffee table and stacked them into piles.

I noticed how he never took his hands off Naruto.

I was uncomfortable, but I had to do this. Now or never. I tried my best to speak straight without a hint of weakness or hesitation.

"Do you remember what h-happened b-between us last year?"

_Stuttering at a time like this. Damn._

Then suddenly, the atmosphere felt heavier.

He may not show it, but I can feel a sense of uneasiness in his actions and voice as he answered.

"Yes. Yes, I do. What about it?"

I stood up and bowed low.

"I am sorry, sensei. I should never have done that. I should never have distanced myself. I-..."

My voice trailed away as I felt his hand on my head.

For a moment there, I thought that he was gonna rough me up.

But I was wrong.

Minato ruffled my hair, just like how he used to.

Right then and there, I felt something inside me come back to life.

Having this kind of...feeling... made me, oh I don't know. I do not know what to call this feeling. It's like I felt happy, but somehow sad at the same time. I felt tears welling up at my eyes, and I blinked to make them go away.

The familiar feeling of being _loved,_ maybe?

No.

No, he does not love me. Not in that way.

I have mistaken certain feelings I felt from Minato as love. I hope I know better now.

"You should never have what? Let your true feelings known?"

I looked up at him, and felt a teardrop or two running down my face.

"N-No."

"Then what are you sorry for? That was all you did. You expressed how you felt. You don't have to be sorry for that, Kakashi."

I wanted to say that he just don't understand, but kept it to myself.

A year's worth of sadness and guilt flooded my eyes.

It seems that I cannot deny how weak I really am.

He sat down on the couch, beckoning for me to sit with him.

"You know Kakashi, I had my faults too."

"Don't say that, it is all because of me."

"I understand, but I should never have let you distance yourself away from me."

Minato looked down at a sleeping Naruto and answered slowly, as if choosing his words.

"I... You see, I never should have let you feel that I _rejected_ you."

"..What?"

He stood up, and excused himself for a while.

"I'll just put Naruto to bed."

Minato was back in less than a minute.

He was rubbing his hands on the thighs of his pants as he sat back down next to me.

"I never had the chance to say this, so... I'm sorry about your wife, sensei."

I watched him as he smiled weakly, staring blankly into space.

"Yeah. Thanks. I am too."

He continued gazing silently into nothingness. He was probably reminiscing the times with his wife, and I didn't want to take that away from him.

Finally, he spoke again.

"I loved her, really."

I looked at him. A ghost of a smile was on his lips. His eyes were glimmering.

Words aren't enough to express how I actually _felt _what he felt.

It was like his feelings was a tangible presence in the room, sitting upon my shoulders. On my shoulders, because I was willing to bear it with him.

I wanted to tell him that he doesn't have to be in this alone.

"I know you do... but you still have Naruto, right?"

He nodded, and pursed his lips. Minato, it seems, didn't want to cry in front of me.

I laid a hand on his shoulder and patted him.

He shook his head and shifted his position to face me directly.

"I didn't want her to die. I did all my best to subdue the Kyuubi..."

"But you did. You sealed the monster away, didn't you?"

"I did, but it was already too late. She... she gave herself up so Naruto can live... So that I can live."

That was when he fell to pieces.

His face was cringed into a sick kind of grimace as he continued to speak. His eyebrows were knit together, an expression of utmost pain on his face.

It broke my heart to see Minato like this, but I can't let my stupid heart decided what to do about it, could I?

"...and do you know what she told me before she had her last breath?"

We were practically beside each other. Maybe too close.

"Kushina told me to make sure Naruto grows up to be a great ninja, and that I am free to love again."

I can't do anything but to listen.

I was afraid that I may not be able to control myself again.

All I did was to rub his back and tell him that "It's alright."

So there I was, comforting an older person.

Minato pulled himself together quicker than I expected, and he was smiling faintly in no time.

Well, that was what I wanted, right?

It doesn't matter if it's because of me, I just wanted to see him smile again.

* * *

Minato brought a cup of coffee for me as the night went deeper.

I said my thanks and sipped some.

"Kakashi."

"Yes?"

"Do I still mean anything to you?"

He was so direct, so straightforward. Blunt, even.

"Yes, of course. I still consider you my sensei."

_Of course you do. Even though how little, there is still space in my heart for you._

"Ah."

The seconds seemed to drag on longer as neither of us spoke.

Noticing that it was already too late, I decided to say goodbye even though I haven't totally said my apologies and accomplished what I needed to say to the blonde-haired ninja.

But as I was standing, a strong hand pulled me back down.

Surprised, I grabbed Minato's hand and pushed it away. However, his grip was firm. It wasn't too hard, but it clearly meant that he didn't want me to go yet.

In one swift motion, he had me right next to him.

What happened next was something totally unexpected.

The Yondaime, Namikaze Minato, the only person I had truly loved closed his eyes and cocked his head to one side and kissed me.

It was a swift kiss, much like what I gave him on the day I started thinking that he didn't like me.

Apparently, I was wrong.

"W-why?" was all I could say.

With his eyes still closed and traces of tears on his eyelashes, he stated the reason.

"I am free to love again, Kakashi."

It seems that after all this time, I was loved after all.

"I tried reconnecting with you for over a year, but you won't even look at me even at mission briefings." said Minato.

"I was trying the same thing, but I thought that-..."

"That I didn't care?"

I nodded.

"I should be the one saying sorry, Kakashi..."

Minato pulled me into his arms and embraced me tight. Uncertainly, I wrapped one arm around his back and laid my head on his shoulder.

"When I pushed you away when you first kissed me, it didn't mean that I was disgusted of you. Back then, I had Kushina. I loved her, but you... I loved you too. Then suddenly, I learned that you liked me too. It was just a mess. I was conflicted and I didn't know what to do!"

"I understand now. I under-..."

"In my confusion, I unconsciously drifted away from you. Then I became Hokage, and Naruto was born, then the Kyuubi... Kushina died. I wanted to scream, to just pass the burdens to someone else but I shouldn't."

His embrace tightened on me.

"I.. I just want you, Kakashi."

I was about to reply but his mouth met mine. His tongue slid over my lips.

I felt that his lips were rough and chapped, but it didn't matter.

I don't know how to kiss, so all I did was just let him invade my mouth.

Eventually, Minato deepened his kiss. His tongue snaked over mine, and I felt things I have never felt before.

Everything was happening too fast, but neither of us seemed to care.

"M-Minato..."

At that moment, all I could do was moan as he gently pushed me down to lay on the couch.

I tugged at his hair, and he grunted in response. Both of us were gasping for air as Minato nipped at the flesh on my neck.

But...

...this had to stop.

I pushed Minato off me, and he looked at me with disbelieving eyes.

"We..we can't do this. Not now..."

He straightened himself up and pulled me to sit upright.

Minato looked at me straight in the eye and said, "Alright."

I stood and started walking towards the door. The Yondaime followed me as he buried his hands in his pockets.

He grabbed my arm as I exited his house.

"Is it clear now? I love you, too."

I just smiled and squeezed his hand.

"I do, too. Thanks."

The midnight draft was less colder than I expected it to be.

Life is good.

* * *

A/N: A little hurried, sorry. Off for summer vacation! No technology for about a week or two. Please review. I need them. Over and out.


	18. Interlude: Liar

A/N: Just a quick update just to tell you that I am still alive. I kind of hit a dead-end here, but I'll get over it. Soon. Hopefully. Why did I have to be into the 1827 Katekyo Hitman Reborn pairing? D:

* * *

**Interlude**

* * *

Namikaze Minato stirred in his bed, thoughts of many things coming in like a sudden, cruel deluge.

He let his emotions get the best of him.

That, as most shinobi would say, made him weak.

"No..."

The Yondaime, closed his eyes tighter and willed himself to get back into sweet slumber's arms. Things are already a great mess the way they are now. Cursing himself, and trying hard not to think about Kakashi, he threw the blankets over himself and wrapped them tightly around his body. Good thing Naruto stayed asleep.

"This shouldn't continue."

He gave a small sigh. Minato tried not to think to much, or to care. Either way, the young silver-haired ninja would end up at one place: somewhere between love, happiness, hate and disappointment.

Maybe it was time he thought only about him and his child's sake.


End file.
